


FableFace

by Thycora



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mute Frisk, Online Dating, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PTSD, Slow Burn, flash backs, puns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-05-21 09:55:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 53,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6047296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thycora/pseuds/Thycora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You're tired of being alone, and your best friend is tired of you being alone too.  So she encourages you to sign up for FableFace.  What could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shybooty

Welp. Today was the day. This was the moment. You were tired of being alone, and you were going to take your friends advice. You hadn’t had a relationship in over four years, and as nice as being single was … you were done. You missed having a relationship with someone who loved you, and not just in the friend way. Not to say that the thought of actually finding someone who was compatible wasn’t overwhelming, no, you were downright terrified! … But also strangely excited? You kept wanting to back out, but here was your friend at your side, watching your every move. You were going to sign up, on a forum chat where people sometimes got dates, you guessed, at FableFace.

“C’mon,” she elbowed you, a mischievous grin on her face. “Lilly was the best thing to happen to me here, you’ve got to try it!”

You turned your sour face to look at your friend, her curly golden locks flowing from her head, bright blue eyes fluttering at you in a faux-seductive manner and puckering her lips at you. “Mua mua mua,” she chuckled, emphasizing each ‘mua’ with a smack of the lips. You rolled your eyes and used a palm full force into her face, sending her backwards and onto the carpet in a giggling heap. It was a soft carpet, you were pretty sure you had some spare ice packs if she hit her head real hard. Not that anyone would notice, you mused to yourself in the most horrible way. You glanced down at the floor to see her clutching her chest, an excited look playing on her face. If she were a dog her tail would be wagging a mile a minute.

Speaking of dogs, you frowned and wondered aloud, “Allie, what if one of those … creatures … tries to hook up with me?” You tried to word it nicely, but ever since the “monsters” as they called themselves had come up from the Underground a couple of years ago, things were weird around town to say the least. You didn’t hate them, per say, you just didn’t really know how to interact with them. Or anyone at all, really, if you were being honest with yourself.

Your friend scowled at you, immediately straightening up to reach for a pillow behind her on the couch and swinging it forcefully in your direction. You let out a soft grunt as it connected with your arm, she’d been a little harsh. You fake whined and rubbed the sore spot, your skin was always sensitive but you liked playing it up, assuming she was playing too.

“That’s not nice,” she rose, pillow still in hand. You gave her a quizzical look before she gave an exasperated sigh. “Look, I know you’re new to this whole ‘monster’ thing. But some of these monsters are the nicest people I’ve ever met! Like, Doggo comes in every day, right? You’d think that’d be annoying as hell. But he’s also got his own little Seeing Eye dog which is kinda silly but cute? Anyway, Doggo, Doggo’s a sweetheart. He always asks for the simple treats, and do you know what he does? Do you know what he fucking does?”

By this point Allie’s face was in your face, and to say that you were uncomfortable was an understatement. You took a big gulp and breathed through your nose, giving your head a light shake. She pushed her forehead up against yours and said, “ _He gives half the treats to his dog, and then he gives donates the rest to the shelter._ ”

“Wha?” You give a startled reply, daring to scooch your wheeled chair back just an inch. The young woman relents with a huff, a stomp of the foot, and takes a couple steps back.

“Do you know how long it took Doggo to stop smoking treats?” You shook your head again. Dogs could smoke treats? Now you’d heard everything. “ _Four. Years._ ” She stretched each word, each vowel penetrating your guilty conscience like a knife. “Do you know how long he’d been smoking?” She barely waited for your head to turn when she blurted out, “Thirty! For thirty years he’d been smoking!”

“Dogs don’t live that long,” you spoke, not really thinking about what you were saying.

Allie groaned, rolling her eyes skyward, “Seriously?! Monsters live longer than we do, remember? And he’s, like, a magic dog, so be nice! Didn’t your cousin used to smoke or something?”

“Still does,” you grumbled. You didn’t mind seeing him, he was okay to be around … you just hated it when your clothes smelt like nicotine after every family reunion/holiday/whatever event the two of you happened to be going to.

“See, it’s hard to quit! Now think about it for a person who’s made out of pure magic! That’s like, way more close to their system than anything! And he was able to _quit!_ ” She gave another sigh and put her hands on her hips, “They’re people, just like us.”

You attempted to sink back into your seat, wondering how possible it would be for it to turn into a black hole and suck you in right now. You had been pretty racist (?) speciesist (?). You looked away from Allie and mumbled a “sorry” around your shirt. She scoffed, turning her attention back to the computer in front of you two.

“Well, if you’re not going to make your account then I’ll do it for you!”

“Allie no!”

“Allie yes!”

“Allie I swear to god --”

And before you knew it the two of you were back together in a giggling fit, fighting over the keyboard. Your arms became tangled around each other as you laughed, typing in nonsense before an error message read on the screen ‘Your username is too long. Please chose something shorter.’ You both stared at it a moment before dissolving into chuckles, and she finally removed her hands from the keyboard. With a smirk you swiped away the useless letters and pondered a moment on your username. What should you chose?

“… How about WetPanties69?” Allie giggled and your face flushed red almost immediately, too shocked to say anything. She tittered, “I’m just kidding, you shouldn’t take that so seriously!”

“Noooooooo,” you whined quietly, reaching over to your couch for a blanket to hide under. Sadly, it was too far away, and your friend blocked your path with her body, smirking.  
“Nuh-uh, no hiding until you get at least an account and talk to someone!”

“But-”

“Honey you’re never gonna get any butts if you keep this up.”

A terrible grin caught on your face and you gave a small cough, mumbling something to yourself, bending you head down to hide in your shirt. Your blonde friend knew that look and narrowed her eyes at you with a wide smile, “What was that?”

You mumbled it again and she gently flumped the pillow on your head, “C’mon, what was it?”

You snickered a moment, trying to compose yourself, fighting the urge to giggle through your words and managed to say to Allie with a straight face, “Too shy for the booty fly.”

“Oh my god.” You suddenly found a pillow in front of your face. “That’s it, I’m doing this for your own good.”

“Noooooooo,” you paused between laughs, full on cackling by this point. You felt the pillow squish into your face briefly before the weight went away and it flopped to the ground and you could see Allie waving her hands in an exaggerated manner, elbows neatly bent at her sides.

“Bye! Leaving the scene of the crime! Bye!” She flaunted off, hips wagging in an exaggerated manner. 

You laughed and sat up straight in the chair, “Were you just trying to suffocate me?”

“Suffocated people don’t talk!” She called back, sauntering towards the doorway.

“Oh good. That also means suffocated people don’t make online profiles for dates.” And with that you flumped dramatically into your chair, tongue lolling out and eyes rolled to the top of your head.

You heard your friend stomp on the floor with an “Oh no you don’t!” And with her mighty footsteps she stampeded over to you, flopping her body back down you yours, forcing out a breath of air.

“The hell are you doing?” You laughed, slicking your tongue back in your mouth and resting your arms on her back.

“CPR or some shit,” Allie grunts, trying to hold back giggles and the two of you end up a mess of cackles and giggles again. After taking a few minutes to breathe and sober up, your friend removes herself from your bosom and folds her arms across her own, patiently waiting for you as you stare back at the computer.

The website had been designed with earthy browns, oranges and yellows. It was a calming site, a green dragon’s long neck and head standing proud on the left side of the banner, and an anonymous human shape on the other end. You suppose that represented the bonds of monsters and humans cooperating on this website. One little account couldn’t hurt, could it?

Suddenly, a lightbulb goes off in your head, “I got it!” And you begin furiously clacking at the keyboard as Allie’s blue eyes stare with wonder at your screen. You’ve barely finished typing in your confirmation password when she cups her hand over her mouth in a fit of giggles.

“Really? Shybooty?” She tries her best not to laugh at you, and it’s very difficult.

“Hey, I thought it was pretty awesome.”

“Damn right it is,” she said, thumping a hand to your shoulder. “I’ll go get the drinks!”

You let out a hiss of victory and let your friend skip out of the room, tiny skirt swishing to and fro. You smile and shake your head, clicking over your e-mail to confirm the account and back. You are now officially Shybooty on FableFace, and you have no idea what you’re doing with your life.


	2. Sans Sherif

Well, here you are, user Shybooty on FableFace. An odd network started up by a team of monsters and humans to try to get them to get along, and maybe even go on dates? As your reading over the welcome post for all new users you see that it was co-founded by Frisk, the human child who freed the monsters, and Alphys. You don’t know who she is, but the name sounds familiar, maybe they were friends with Frisk? Then again, what monster wasn’t? You’d heard Frisk being titled the ‘friend to all monsters’ and they certainly earned that title with the kindness and respect they treated everyone.

Reading through the post there were rules of the forum, different sections for different things (one aimed specifically at dating, you knew Allie was going to have your head if you didn’t post there at least once), and an overall welcoming message. You read through a few of the first “Hi I’m new” posts and they all seemed to be pretty welcoming, so you decided that’d be the best place to start.

Allie has dragged over a chair by this point and sets down two Pina Coladas at your desk, one for you and one for her. She doesn’t say a word as she scooches her chair closer to yours, eagerly waiting for your first post. Your hands hesitate over your keyboard and a frown creases your lips. You haven’t been on a forum since your younger teen years and now … now you’re feeling all kinds of stupid all over again.

“No, this was a bad idea,” you grumble and cover your face with your palms. “This was stupid, I’m stupid, I’m gonna make an idiot out of myself-”

“No, no, sweetie, no,” the blonde coos, taking a quick sip of her drink before guiding her hand to your back and rubbing comforting circles on it. “You’re not stupid, this isn’t stupid, this was your idea in the first place-”

“You helped!”

“Well yes, but that’s because you needed helping. Come on, ______. Look at me for a sec, will you?” her voice is soft with concern, but you’re stubborn in your sadness. With a sigh you feel one hand reach out for yours, lowering both hands over your heart, and when you turn to look at her she smiles. “That’s better. Now, repeat after me: I’m going to get through this.”

“I’m going to get through this.”

“I am smart.”

“I am smart.”

“I am kind.”

“I am kind.”

“I am loved.”

“I am loved.”

“I’m gonna suck me some dick.”

“I’m gonna suck m-- Allie!!”

It is too late, she’s already a cackling pile of laughter and soon you are too. You almost knock your drinks over in the excitement but manage to steady yourself. You share a smile with Allie and her bright blue eyes beam with encouragement. Allie has always been there for you through thick and thin, for better or worse, and you can’t imagine life without your best friend. She gives you a gentle nudge with her shoulder and hands you your drink. You nod a silent ‘thank you’ and take a few sips of your Pina Colada, willing the drink to give you the courage you need to post, and quickly revising your statement to mean bravery and not stupidity. The last thing you need is to make an idiot of yourself.

And so begins the escapades of Shybooty:

> **Shybooty:**  
>  Hi everyone, I’m Shybooty. This is my first time joining a forum in a long time. I really enjoy writing and doodling in my spare time, but I’m not the greatest at it.

“More like the best!” Allie interjects and you snort, giving her a loving elbow to the arm.

I really love animals and reading books. I’m also pretty shy at times, but I’m very excited to meet new people here!

You pause for a moment, sipping your drink while deep in thought. Finally you ask, “Would it be too weird if I say ‘new people and monsters’?”

“Hmm,” she ponders, taking her own thoughtful sip. Deciding she needs more time to think, she takes a few more sips and a chug of her drink. “Maybe …? Some monsters are really picky about it, but honestly they’re just people like you and me. I think you’re fine with that wording. But …”

She leans over you and spreads her hands over the keyboard, “you’re missing some real important info here. Let me help you …”

“Allie, what are you -”

And before you can think to complete your sentence you watch your dearest friend type in what a great kisser you are and you probably have the biggest boobs on the planet they’re like wrecking ball sized, you’ve probably killed a man. You let out a high pitched shriek of embarrassment and anger and begin clacking at the keyboard with her, scrambling for the backspace key. Thankfully your mouse is far enough away from the ‘submit post’ button and neither of you click on it so that terribly embarrassing message doesn’t send. You finally manage to win by snagging Allie’s Pina Colada away from her and threatening to dump it down the sink. She relents, begging for you to return the precious liquid to her. You return to your post, looking over it a little more.

> **Shybooty:**  
>  Hi everyone, I’m Shybooty. This is my first time joining a forum in a long time. So I guess I’m kind of new to this, please bear with me. I really enjoy writing and doodling in my spare time, but I’m not the greatest at it. I really love animals and reading books. I’m also pretty shy at times, but I’m very excited to meet new people here! I really hope to make lots of friends on here, I’m happy to meet you all!

You’ve added on a couple of extra sentences, hoping it’ll encourage people to come and interact with you if you never gain the courage to do so yourself. Allie nods sagely, giving one of your hands a light pat. You take a deep breath, inhale, then exhale, and click ‘submit post’.

The computer screen refreshes immediately and you see your post has successfully made it to the introduction thread, yay! You can’t help but feel just a little giddy about it. You and your bestie spend the next few minutes topping off your Pina Coladas, refreshing the page every now and then and see a couple of people responding to your post.

> **Shadowbox:**  
>  Hey Shybooty! Nice nickname lol. You’re gonna love it here we’re all awesome.
> 
> **myershore:**  
>  yeah totally! I like to draw too, what sort of things do you draw?

And before you know it you’re actually talking with people. A moderator passes by, they’ve got a funny font, wishes you well and seems to step out of the conversation. Allie sits up straight suddenly.

“You don’t have an avatar!”

“Oh yeah, guess I should do that. Which pic should I use?” You can see that lots of people have pictures of themselves, some are portraits of monsters. You see a particularly cute looking cat monster and make sure to keep his username in mind … although you start having thoughts once you realize it reads ‘Burgerpants’.

You and Allie take a moment to sift through the pictures you’ve taken, well, Allie has taken. She’s always up for a selfie and loves to include you in them. After taking a couple of moments to search you find a nice smiling image of you, wearing an over-sized sunhat. You think it’s one of your more adorable pictures and you upload it to your avatar right away. Your friend also manages to convince you to put in your birthday, where you live, and that you’re currently single. It took more than a little nudging, but you’re pretty happy with this. You’re finally going to get out there and do something with your life … even if it is behind a computer screen.

You continue your conversation with your new acquaintances for a little while, but after a bit you’ve realized they’ve stopped responding. You grimace and try not to think the worst, maybe it’s a time zone thing or maybe they had to go do something or whatever. Allie offers to take the now empty cups to the sink and you let her, anxiously waiting for someone to reply. You didn’t do something wrong, did you? Or scare them off? You can’t imagine how but the fear lingers.

And then you get the following replies:

> **Shadowbox:**  
>  You’re not one of those gross people who fetishizes monsters, are you?
> 
> **loveStruck11:**  
>  Eww I’ll bet she is!!
> 
> **myershore:**  
>  what is this like the fifth one this month????????? omg chill

Allie isn’t seated next to you when you first read these, and you can hear her clanking around and cleaning the other dishes in the sink. You wish she was right next to you instead of here, because as far as you’re concerned your heart is now residing in your stomach. You knew this was a bad idea, you just knew it!

With a small sigh you know what your friend would tell you, ‘don’t give up, stay determined’. So you do.

> **Shybooty:**  
>  I’m sorry if I upset you, I don’t know why you think I fetishize monsters. Monsters are people, just like us. I just want to make some new friends.
> 
> **myershore:**  
>  thats what they aaaaaallllll say.
> 
> **Shadowbox:**  
>  Freak.

You can feel the tears biting your eyelids, begging for sweet release. God damn it. God damn it. God FUCKING DAMN IT. You knew this was a bad idea, a terrible idea, no one was going to like you, they always do this, you can’t believe you were so stupid. You fucked up, just like you always do.

You manage to look up as your browser refreshes automatically, and you see a different reply. You think it’s the same moderator from before, writing in … is that Comic Sans?

> **c-sans:**  
>  hey shadowbox, myershore i think you’re bein pretty unbearable right now. stop.  
> 

What? What was going on?

> **Shadowbox:**  
>  Oh come on Sans! It was just a joke! You know I do this to everyone.
> 
> **c-sans:**  
>  yeah and its startin to get clawful. knock it off.
> 
> **myershore:**  
>  its just a joke sans lighten up.
> 
> **c-sans:**  
>  paws for effect …
> 
> **Shadowbox:**  
>  What effect?
> 
> **c-sans:**  
>  hah. classic.

You don’t quite understand what’s going on, but when the page auto-refreshes you notice some neat little red text under Shadowbox’s and myershore usernames ‘1 week ban’. Your hand rises from the keyboard to cover your gaping mouth, despite the fact that no one is around to see you. Well, no one but Allie. You see a notification pop up in your private message section. Your friend saunters over, glancing up at the screen.

“Well, look who’s popular,” she muses. “Already got your first pm! Go check it out, is he a total hottie?”

You’re silent for a while, not bothering to move your eyes from the mean messages you’d seen earlier, and c-sans apparently sticking up for you. It’s been a long while since a complete stranger helped you out, and you’re not entirely sure how to process it. Allie notices your hesitation and frowns, gently pushing herself next to you and looks up at the messages you received. Her face immediately distorts into disgust and she scoffs.

“Are you kidding me?! Did they seriously say that to you?!!”

You give a slow nod, “Yes, but look!”

She scowls and turns her attention back to the computer screen, and suddenly her face lights up, “Oh, is that Sans? Hey good for you! It’s pretty rare to see him doing his job. Sans is a sweetheart, don’t worry about it. Those gross people won’t bother you anymore.”

“But there was also this other person, they haven’t been banned … what if they pm’d me?” You’ve never been good at hiding the worry in your voice.

“Then I’ll kick their ass,” she nods sagely. “Come on, it’s not going to bite. I’m right here for you, promise.”

Allie sticks out her pinkie finger at you, and you wrap your own pinkie around hers. Smiling you repeat the little chant you’d made ages ago, “Daffodils and daises, chickadees and sparrows. They can’t hurt us with their arrows!”

After having a nice giggle with your best friend, you’re feeling a lot better and more open to actually opening the pm you received. Lo and behold it’s from c-sans!

> **c-sans:**  
>  hey. sorry about shadowbox and myershore bothering you. you ok?

“Oh my goooooood he’s checking in on you!!! That’s so sweet!!” your friend coos. “Hey maybe if you play your cards right he’ll go on a date with you!”

“Pfft, yeah right,” you mumble, trying to fight back the warm feeling in your cheeks. “I’ll bet he does this for everyone.”

“No literally it’s so rare to see Sans actually doing work. The others mods must be off or something. Damn, I can’t believe I forgot my laptop, when I get home I’m gonna reply to your post and let those stupid girls know just who they’re messing with!” she huffs, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Haha okay, what was your username again?”

“It’s PrincessAmore. And quick, say something back! Don’t keep Sans waiting or he’ll forget to reply.”

“Says you.”

“I literally took longer than 10 minutes one time and didn’t get a reply for five days. You really ought to reply.”

You arch an eyebrow, “This isn’t a ploy to get me to date him, is it?”

“______, you wound me!” Allie feigns hurt feelings, dramatically placing a hand to her chest.

You laugh at her and smile before returning to your computer, figuring out what to say.

> **Shybooty:**  
>  Yes, I’m okay. Thank you. I didn’t mean for them to get banned, I’m sorry about that, I don’t want to cause any trouble.

You quickly send the message, ignoring your friends squeaks of protest. She scolds you and firmly reminds you that they started it and it was their own damn fault for being a couple of bitches anyway. You shrug it off, even when things like this happen you can’t help but feel a little guilty. You don’t want anyone to hate you, and now you’re pretty sure those two must hate you at the very least. You’re off to such a great start. c-sans replies quickly.

> **c-sans:**  
>  hey, no worries. not your fault either. those two have been at it for a couple of weeks and have been getting multiple warnings. its no trouble.  
> 
> 
> tori probably would have handled it but she’s got a parent-teacher conference so i’m on duty for tonight.
> 
> **Shybooty:**  
>  Oh, well, thank you. Who’s Tori?
> 
> **c-sans:**  
>  right you’re new here. i’m sans btw, but i’m sure you figured that out already.
> 
> toriel is one of the other mods who helps run this place, it was alphys and frisks idea to get it started, and being frisks mom and all she just had to help, you know? course i’m mostly here cuz tori and the kid asked me to. can’t say no to the kid, you know?

Allie lets out a victory squeal and your jaw drops as you make a sudden realization, “You didn’t tell me Sans knew the Monster Queen! And Frisk! The kid who saved them?!” You don’t bother to wait for her to reply, immediately clacking away at the keyboard.

> **Shybooty:**  
>  Toriel? As in, the Queen of all Monsters? And Frisk? The little kid who saved everyone? Wow, that’s amazing! How do you know them?
> 
> **c-sans:**  
>  wow you are really new here haha. tori would appreciate it tho if you just called her tori or toriel, she left that queen business a long time ago. and of course i know frisk. i kept an eye socket out for the kiddo.

You immediately slap a palm to your face, groaning for a second then retract it to begin typing again. Of course Sans knew them, you’d heard his name in the news at brief points. Looking at his avatar confirmed he was indeed the same skeleton monster you’d seen on TV every now and then. You honestly don’t know how you forgot.

> **Shybooty:**  
>  omg I am so sorry! I’ve seen you in the news before, I can’t believe I forgot you! You’re Sans, Sans the Skeleton, right? Your brother is Papyrus, or as I keep hearing it, The Great Papyrus! That is such a cool name.

You glance over his text, noting that he is in fact talking in Comic Sans, and decide to add on a question, hoping it isn’t rude.

> Hey, is it true that you guys each write in your fonts? Like, you write in Comic Sans and Papyrus writes in Papyrus? Sorry if that comes across as rude, it just seems kinda cool to me. Do all skeletons do that?  
> 

Allie interjects your typing with a strong hug. “I’m so proud of you!” She whispers, as if she’s intruding in on a conversation. “I gotta head home now, text me if you need anything.”

“Will do,” you return the hug, a wide grin on your face. This is rather exciting, you’re actually having a good conversation with someone, a monster in fact, and he doesn’t seem to completely hate you! Aside from the rude start, you think this whole potential online dating thing might be good for you. It feels like you’re already making a friend, you weren’t expecting one that quickly.

> **c-sans:**  
>  don’t worry about it, you haven’t afonted us yet. heh yup i guess that’s true. pap and i have always just kinda written like this. don't know if it’s a skeleton thing, pap and i are the only skeletons around. it must be some sort of monster magic, every time i put my name in someone’s contacts it always ends up as comic sans. i guess it’s just my type.

You can’t help but chuckle at the puns. You’re glad to know that he isn’t upset with you, you’re not sure you’d keep an account here like you promised if he was angry at all. You guessed what Allie was always telling you was really true: monsters are objectively nicer than humans. It also strikes you as really sweet that he calls his brother Pap, you’ve seen them on the news and such. You get the feeling that the two brothers are really close.

> **Shybooty:**  
>  Haha nice puns. Does it run in the font-family?
> 
> **c-sans:**  
>  i think you’ll find i’m quite the comic, but pap isn’t as font of them as i am. at least, he says he isn’t.  
> 
> 
> my bro is so cool. do you have any siblings?

You can’t help but giggle, you’re really enjoying this conversation, and Sans seems to genuinely like talking to you, if you’re not interpreting it wrong. Your smile fades when he asks you about siblings, and you hesitate for a moment thinking back to your past. With a brisk shake of your head you firmly remind yourself that you can’t get caught up in such trivial nonsense.

> **Shybooty:**  
>  I used to. He passed away a few years ago.
> 
> **c-sans:**  
>  oh shit sorry to hear that. i don’t know what i’d do if i lost papyrus. are you doing okay over there with all that?
> 
> **Shybooty:**  
>  It’s fine. I’m doing fine.  
> 

You know you’re being way too curt, you can’t hold it against Sans. But you just haven’t thought about this in such a long time … you can feel the tears welling up.

> **c-sans:**  
>  alright then. take your time.

You can tell Sans doesn’t believe you, buy you appreciate him dropping the subject. It’s late, and you need to get to bed if you want to go to work on time tomorrow.

> **Shybooty:**  
>  Thanks.

You wish you could say more but … you’re not sure what else to say. So you do what comes naturally, starting your bedtime routine. Getting dressed, brushing your teeth, reading a book … your small house feels smaller and quitter than usual as you drift off to sleep, you try not to think anything of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the kudos and the nice words, you're all amazing too!!
> 
> I am also on tumblr as [Thycora](http://thycora.tumblr.com/), so feel free to send me a message or ask or whatever, I'm happy to talk!!


	3. Nightmares to Daydreams

You thought something of it. You thought a lot of somethings of it. Vague nightmares plagued your mind, you can see the skidded tread marks, the long hospitals gowns, papers, smoke, metal clashing against metal … another normal night for you, all things considered. You really ought to look into getting more help for these nightmares, but frankly they’ve become so frequent they’re more of a nuisance than anything. 

Groaning you roll out of bed, feet fumbling to find your slippers. It’s only 6:07, a good half hour before you usually get up. Oh well, you’re up now. You decide a warm shower would do you well, as it always has. So you drag your feet to your dresser on the other side of the bed, pick out clothes for the day, and shuffle your way to the shower in the room over. Once you’re inside the shower you scrub meticulously making sure to clean every inch of skin. Being clean always did make you feel better.

After drying yourself off in your favorite towel (you don’t care what anyone says, towels with cute lil bunnies on them are the best) you’re feeling a lot more refreshed and get dressed for the day before heading downstairs for some morning breakfast, and coffee. Lord did you need coffee.

You stumbled over to your coffee maker, it was an old thing given to you by your Mom. It worked as well as you needed it to. By now it was 6:38, and you supposed that you had enough time to turn on your computer and glance at any messages you received. You also deduce that checking your phone might be a good idea. You get the water needed and pour it into the reservoir, add the filter, then the grounds, and jab the on button. While the coffee maker whirs to life you waddle over to your computer desk and take a seat.

It is at this moment you realize you must have set your phone to silent when you were reading and completely forgot to turn the sound back on. You have about 15 text messages, likely from Allie. Oh dear. She knows you hate getting lots of text messages at once, so she was kind enough to stop after 15. You wince, 15 is still a large number and you try to imagine what she could be mad about …

_No, stop that,_ you tell yourself. _Allie’s not mad at you, she doesn’t have a reason to be. Just … unlock the phone … and open the texts …_

With great effort you press the corresponding digits to unlock your phone. Your eye immediately darts to your messages app with a polite little bubble telling you that you have 15 messages to read. Deciding now is a great time to play some mindless games and avoid responsibilities, you pop open a game you downloaded a while ago, Cookie Run. It’s cute and easily distracts you from routines and things you actually need to do.

But your hearts run out fast, and at the same time your coffee is ready! What a neat coincidence! You set the phone back down on your desk, swipe the power button for the computer so it warms up and stride over to your sweet, sweet morning ritual. Of course, the coffee is typically bitter, and you’re a sucker for sweet things, so you pour in the creamer by the pound once you get it into your favorite mug. You might as well be drinking sugar.

Taking a few sips invigorates you greatly, and you glance over to your computer desk where your phone is still sitting … waiting for you. You sigh and take another sip of coffee, willing it to give you the courage to look at the messages. You chant in your mind _Allie isn’t mad at you … Allie isn’t mad at you …_ it doesn’t help completely but having that thought persist helps some.

You unlock your phone again and go straight to messages, and see that you have 13 messages from Allie. Two are from people you don’t know … that’s odd. You scroll through Allie’s messages first, deciding you can figure out the other two in a moment.

> _**Allie:** Hey ______ I know youre normally asleep rn but I just wanted to check in and say hi!!!_
> 
> _Also, don’t be mad but I talked to Sans a little. We’re like total besties now so it’s okay._
> 
> _Oh and I made that post that I said that I would!! If anyone tries messing with you again I’ll make them pay, promise!_
> 
> _Hey Sans says you were a little stand-offish after he asked you about something, are you okay? Why didn’t you text me?_
> 
> _I’m not mad btw. I’m just concerned. Text me when you wake up okay?_
> 
> _Wait you told Sans about your brother?! I thought you didn’t want to talk about him!!!_
> 
> _Oh Sans says he asked and you got upset, my bad._
> 
> _Don’t worry about it, I explained how it’s a touchy subject for you. He’s totally chill with it, not mad at all. No ones mad we all love you okay?? <3_
> 
> OMG wait Toriel is apparently trying to message you????? guuuurrrlll get on ff now!!!!!
> 
> _Sans says that she says to tell you that she’s uper sorry about what happened, won’t let it happen again!!_
> 
> _*super_
> 
> _Okay I’ll stop blowing up your phone now lmao sorry!!!!!! Love you!!!!!_
> 
> _ps I caved and gave them your number, sorry!!!!!!! Tori insisted!!!!!! She’s a total sweetheart trust me. <3 _

Your face was a rainbow of expression throughout each message, from initial fear, to slightly more fear, to laughter, to concern, to guilt, to even more guilt, to sadness, to mild relief, to excitement, to more relief, to relaxed, and finally to confusion. That has to be one hell of a work out for your muscles. You read over the texts again a couple of times, it’s a force of habit, and then decide to settle on a scowl. Taking another sip of your coffee, you begin to reply:

> _**You:** Monin Allie._
> 
> _Thanks for explaining that to Sans for me, but did you really have to give him and Toriel my number?_
> 
> _Really, really wish you’d asked first next time. I’m sure they’re nice people, I mean, I know Sans, is but …_
> 
> _You know. Anxiety. *jazz hands*_

It’ll be a few minutes before Allie replies, she’s probably barely up at this point. She was never a morning person you think to yourself with a smile. Turning to your now active computer you log in to FableFace as instructed, and you see two pms waiting for you. You smile, they’re each from c-sans and Toriel. There’s still a lingering guilt in your gut from when you snapped at Sans, so you go to see Toriel’s message first.

> **Toriel:**
> 
> Hello dearie,
> 
> First I would love to extend a warm welcome to FableFace! My name is Toriel, and I am one of the caretakers of this place. I believe Alphys calls them mods? What a funny name!
> 
> Frisk was so excited to set up this wonderful website. Of course, Alphys was the most experienced person to set this up, have you met her? Please do forgive me if this seems like I am snooping, but I see that you live in the same city as Alphys, Undyne, Sans, Papyrus, and myself. Perhaps we have run into each other and have never known about it? What a fun idea!
> 
> I would also like to personally apologize for the way some of our members have treated you. Shadowbox, myershore, and loveStruck11 have been reprimanded by Sans as you must have seen earlier, and I also gave them each a stern talking to. They should never bother you again, and if they do, I will be here.
> 
> Please allow me to treat you to a meal of some kind for the trouble they’ve caused. Or at least allow me to make you some butterscotch-cinnamon pie. It is Frisk’s favorite.
> 
> I understand you’re friends with PrincessAmore; Sans let me know after I discussed what happened with him. I spoke with him and her about what had happened, and also told her not to be rude to the others on this forum. She didn’t leave a mean message for the people who were mean to you, but it was certainly a warning if I’ve ever heard one. I can tell she really loves you.
> 
> Please do not be mad with PrincessAmore, or Allie as I believe you call her. I am a silly old woman who worries a lot and since I knew we lived in the same area I thought perhaps we could exchange phone numbers? Your Allie is a very sweet and energetic woman. I would love to have afternoon tea with both of you, and perhaps Sans too if we can manage to get him out of bed!
> 
> Do forgive me for rambling, I just wish to make sure that you are doing all right and safe. You do not have to accept my contact on your phone, but I would greatly appreciate it if you did. Please get back to me as soon as you could.
> 
> Take care sweetheart.
> 
> Toriel

By the time you’ve finished reading Toriel’s response you’ve downed all of your sugar-coffee. It’s an absurdly lengthy message, but you are in no way intimidated by it surprisingly. Every word has gentleness packed neatly into every syllable and kindness into each consonant. You really can’t be upset with Allie, Toriel sounds so sweet! You send Allie a quick text letting her know you got Toriel’s message and that you’re totally okay with her having your number.

Your gurgling stomach gives you a gentle reminder that coffee can’t be the only part of your breakfast, and you figure that’s as good an excuse as any to delay looking at Sans’ messages. Now it’s 6:49, you’ve got to leave for work in about an hour. So you make your way back to the kitchen and pour yourself some cereal. You choose to be good and take down a box of Cheerios and snag some skim milk from the fridge. That’s supposed to be good for you, right?

You speed through the cereal, munching and crunching along as you check various social media outlets. There are some particularly funny vines you’re enjoying, a few yaks that you wish would yik elsewhere, and various tweets ranging from silly jokes to thoughtful words. You suppose you’ve put Sans off long enough, so you take your dirty dishes to the sink and slink back to your computer, deciding to check on your FableFace message first.

> **c-sans:**
> 
> hey. talked more with tori and pa, you two are really close, huh? tori really wants to make it up to you about last night. hope it’s alright w you if i text. i know i don’t have any, but if you need a listening ear i can get one. or tori. tori’s good at listening too.
> 
> sorry again for your loss.

A hand drifts over your heart and you clench the fabric between your fingers. You’re very moved by how sweet Sans is being to you right now, after he has every reason not to. You decide it’s okay for him to have your number too and go straight to your phone. After adding each number into your contacts as Toriel and Sans respectively, you decide to see what each of them have to say.

> _**Toriel:** Hello dearest, this is Toriel. Your friend PrincessAmore (Allie) was kind enough to give me your number. Please let me know if I am overstepping my bounds, and also if you would like to have pie later._
> 
> _**Sans:** hey it’s sans. let me know if the comic sans thing still works, will ya?_

You giggle as you look over Sans’ message, it really is in Comic Sans. And he never had your phone in the first place! You don’t know how he does that. Must be skeleton monster magic, or something of the sort. Before responding to either person you think for a moment about which platform you should respond first … FF or text?

Since Toriel left you such a sweet and lengthy message of FF, you decide it’s best to respond to her there first.

> **Shybooty:**
> 
> Hi Toriel,
> 
> Wow, thank you so much for the warm welcome! I really appreciate it, I’m glad to know that you’re here to help. I hope I didn’t cause too much trouble with those users, I don’t want to start any fights or anything.
> 
> You don’t have to make it up to me, honest! Really, you were just doing your job and a couple of people got out of hand. But I must say, butterscotch-cinnamon pie sounds delightful! I work as a librarian on Shutter Street, my shift ends at 4. I’m sure you know the no-food in the library rule (perhaps I’ve seen you walking in with Frisk? I was always busy with computer work …), but perhaps we could meet up at the library entrance at 4 and go wherever? Again thank you so much for your kindness!
> 
> Allie is such a great friend, I’m very lucky to have her. Hey, maybe she could come over too? If that’s okay with you, I wouldn’t want to overstep. I couldn’t be mad at Allie if I tried, I’m actually glad that she gave you and Sans my number! You’re both really nice people, I’m very happy to meet you.
> 
> Haha I keep hearing that Sans is a lazy-bones. Allie told me she once took longer than 10 minutes to reply and he didn’t get back to her for another five days. Just how lazy is that skeleton?
> 
> Thanks again for the well wishes.
> 
> Shybooty

You glance over your message again, double checking it for typos. Toriel seems to write in a very proper manner, you wouldn’t want to accidentally offend her by misspelling something or anything. If you thought on it more you, you figured you couldn’t offend Toriel even if you tried. She is such a nice lady. Now you suppose it is time to get back to Sans and apologize for your behavior last night.

> **Shybooty:**
> 
> Hey Sans. Heh, yeah, you could say that. We’ve been best friends since high school, she’s always stuck up for me. I just got her messages, it’s okay for you guys to text me and stuff. I think Toriel would be happy too if you joined us!
> 
> I wanted to apologize for how I acted last night, that wasn’t okay. I haven’t thought about him in a long, long time. It hurts to remember.
> 
> Thank you for offering to listen, I really do appreciate it. It really has been forever since I talked about it.
> 
> Thank you.

There. Now you’ve got all the awkward crap out of the way you suppose it’s time to head to your text messages. You send a text to Toriel telling her your real name and that it’s totally fine for her to text you. You do the same for Sans, letting him know that the Comic Sans trick still works and apologize again for being so rude last night.

It’s just after 7 now, you still have a good 45 minutes before you need to leave and you decide grabbing an extra piece of toast is a good idea. Sometimes just cereal doesn’t cut it. So you put a piece of bread in the toaster and take down the peanut butter, leaning against the counter and humming some tune you can’t get out of your head. While you’re waiting your phone buzzes and you eagerly check for messages.

> _**Toriel:** Hello ______! I thought it might be easier to have our conversation over text. I am so glad you’d like to meet, it shall be a fun time. I can meet you at the library at 4, I’ll bring Frisk as well! They love meeting new people._
> 
> _Although I am confused about one thing you said, I only asked Allie to give me your contact information, not Sans. That doesn’t mean I am displeased though! Sans is a wonderful friend._

You blink, read the last message over a second time, and stare at the wall. You’re looking for the hidden camera that Allie has surely set up somewhere in your house in the middle of the night. This has to be some episode from The Office. This has to be a joke. Someone is going to jump out of your cupboard any second now and let you know you’re being pranked.

Sadly, this does not happen, and all you can think as you clench your phone is _damn it Allie you little shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaa yall people keep leaving sweet comments and stuff!! You're all so nice <3 Thank you for all the nice comments and kudos and everything!! :33
> 
> Also the reader playing Cookie Run was definitely a reference to me personally because that is one of the things I definitely do when avoiding responsibilities xD I am also Thycora on LINE/cookie run so yeah x3
> 
> And hey if you want to chat me on tumblr I am [Thycora](http://thycora.tumblr.com/) so feel free to send me asks or messages or whatever, I'm happy to talk! :33


	4. Going Through The Motions

Your walk to work is spent by having a mini texting war with Allie, playfully chewing her out for giving Sans your number.

> _**Allie:** Well I knew you wouldn’t make the first move!!!! This is gonna be great trust me!_
> 
> _**You:** This is gonna grate on my nerves is what this is gonna do._
> 
> _**Allie:** But Sans would love that pun tho!!!!! See you’re perfect for each other._
> 
> _**You:** Allie no._
> 
> _**Allie:** Allie YES!_
> 
> _**You:** Allie /please/ I have barely met the guy can you slow down a little????_
> 
> _**Allie:** Aww ok._
> 
> _**Allie:** WAIT!!!!!_
> 
> _**You:** oh no._
> 
> _**Allie:** THAT WORDING!!!!!!_
> 
> _**You:** Allie no pls_
> 
> _**Allie:** DOES THAT MEAN!!!!_
> 
> _**Allie:** YOU HAVE A CRUSH!!!!_
> 
> _**You:** noooooooooooo_
> 
> _**Allie:** ON SANS!!!!!!!_
> 
> _**You:** Allie please seriously I’ve known him for less then 24 hours I barely know him!!!!_
> 
> _**Allie:** I bet you’d like to get ‘bear-naked’ with him and find out *waggles eyebrows*_
> 
> _**You:** ALLIE NO!!!!!_
> 
> _**Allie:** ALLIE YES!!!!_

You can’t really scream from embarrassment seeing as you’re walking down a public street with plenty of people around to hear you so you decide to shove your phone in your pocket and give Allie the silent treatment she deserves. Well, you know she doesn’t really deserve a silent treatment but until your face stops looking like a tomato you think you’ll avoid talking to her.

The rest of your walk to work is brisk, the city library is only a couple of blocks from your house. Makes it easy to get reading material and videos and such. Upon reaching the locked doors you pull out your keys with a huff and click the lock open. You push the doors and they give, letting you into your workplace before closing and locking together. You work as a librarian, checking the records for what’s due, who owes what, and other things.

Kane strode up to your desk, a wide grin plastered on his face as usual. “Mornin sunshine,” he purred, purposefully bumping his cart full of returned books from the book bin against your desk.

“Goodnight moonlight,” you replied flatly, earning a hearty laugh.

“So, what’s got you all red in the cheeks?” the brunette hummed, leaning over towards you.

Your face felt a lot hotter than usual as you sputtered, “I-I walked fast! It was a fast walk and it was kinda chilly out.” Kane raised an eyebrow at you. “I forgot my scarf!”

“Hmph,” and a smirk was his only reply, leaving you with the mound of books to sort. Joy.

He walked off to go chat with Tiana about the day’s events and you let him. Kane wasn’t mean or rude … he was just very insightful and knew how to purposefully embarrass you in public. He never apologized, the tall man seemed to love getting a rise out of you. You noticed frequently that his smug attitude and inclination to make fun of others hadn’t made him many friends at work, but you figured that probably wasn’t your problem after he had covered your entire desk area with sticky notes one time. And replaced all your pens with fake snakes. And rearranged your keyboard keys. And left a live salamander in your desk. 

Sorting through the books helped calm you, placing them on carts to go to wherever they needed. The task took a long while, but it was calming and soothing enough that you didn’t mind. People were starting to pour in, some came to you looking for book recommendations, others to return books. There were a couple that were egregiously overdue. You’d heard the same excuses before and nodded your head at appropriate times, listening to their stories of why they hadn’t returned the book on time. The price to pay wasn’t much for an overdue book, but some did try to weasel their way out of it with stories of how the book got lost but they never lose their books or their kid needed it for a project ... the excuses were endless. But you had to be firm, insisting they pay what the library was due. Most people would relent immediately in a flourish of apologies and a rare few would put up a stink. You always managed to get the money owed though, so it was no trouble.

Going through the formalities of the day calmed you, and you managed to send a text back to Allie to let her know you weren’t really mad at her but honestly she should drop the whole Sans-crush thing because it definitely wasn’t a thing. She relented by letting you know about her day at the pet store was going.

Toriel and Sans sent you a few texts during the day as well; you had a particularly invigorating conversation with Toriel during your lunch break about the fine points of tea. You were lucky that she happened to be done with work by the time you had your lunch break. Toriel taught the morning kindergarten class at one of the new hybrid schools for monsters and humans, so she effectively had the rest of the day off. The two of you brainstormed about places to go and what to eat, so by the time your shift was over you knew exactly where you would be headed. There was a small café a few blocks from the school, a bit of a walking distance for you so Toriel offered to pick you up after you let her know you didn’t have a car today. Most days you walked to work if you could help it, walking was healthier for you, kept you in shape, and you figured you were doing both your wallet and the environment a favor.

Finally done with your shift, you logged out of your computer so the afternoon/evening librarian could take over. You gathered your coat and pack, bid your coworkers adieu and stepped out of the library with purpose. Toriel had sent you a picture of herself via phone earlier that day, and you had to say she was a very beautiful woman. Her fur looked so white and soft, a friendly smile leading up to her gorgeous amber eyes. Two neat little horns crested the top of her head, and you thought she looked partly like a goat. A very lovely goat lady indeed. In her arms she was holding a small human child with mussy brown hair and a big grin. That had to be Frisk you had thought to yourself with a chuckle.

You gave your co-workers one last wave goodbye before exiting the library doors and looked around to see if you could spot your new friends. To your right there was a small garden that the library maintained with the help of the city, and some volunteers. There was a bench so people could relax and sit, and on that bench you saw a large white furred monster wearing a purple cloak and white sleeves. A little child squirmed in her lap, pointing excitedly to each flower. Fall was starting to creep in, and some flowers were still trying to cling on to life. The garden had an arrangement of flowers that would bloom in different seasons, but you did always love the lilacs the most.

“Toriel?” You called out cautiously, and the goat woman turned her head around with a pleasant smile on her face.

“You must be ______! It’s a pleasure to meet you in person,” she picked up the child, who you assumed was Frisk, in her arms and strode over to you with a smile. Two sharp fangs protruded from her upper lip, and under most circumstances you’d be intimidated, but the gentle twinkle in her eyes told you there was no reason to fear.

Supporting Frisk with one arm she reached out her other, extending her hand for a friendly shake. You took your hand in hers, she was incredibly fluffy. “It’s nice to meet you too! Is this Frisk?”

The child nodded excitedly and beamed up at you, waving their hands and twirling their fingers at a rapid pace. Toriel watched with fondness but you were unfortunately caught off guard.

You smiled nervously and said, “I-I’m sorry, I don’t really know sign language … I can learn though!”

The child nodded and clapped their hands together, you didn’t need to know sign language to know that meant they were happy.

“Frisk is mute,” Toriel explained. “They can hear us just fine, but they can’t speak is all. But Frisk says they’re happy to meet you and they love your garden!”

“Oh, cool!” You hoped you didn’t sound too ignorant. You made a mental note to do more research on mutism to understand the child better. “Ah, thanks for the compliment Frisk! I don’t really tend to it, I mostly sit inside. We have gardeners come in to take care of the flowers. Do you have a favorite?”

Frisk nodded, signing off letters for you. You gave them an apologetic shrug but they shake their head with a smile, not wanting you to blame yourself. They tug on Toriel’s sleeve, pointing down and she lowers the child to the ground. Frisk immediately grabs your hand and pulls you over to the garden, tiny shoes pitter-pattering on the ground. You can’t help but chuckle a little, you’re sometimes dragged along by children in the library when they want to show you a book and it never fails to make you smile. Children are just so gosh darned cute!  
Pointing with enthusiasm and a big smile, the child arrives at the patch of crocuses, making sure to emphasize the yellow ones. You smile and nod, “I love crocuses too! They used to bloom around my Mom’s house when I was little.”

Frisk gasps, the breath filled with happiness and immediately begins signing off. You start to become confused when Toriel translates for you, “Do you still live with your Mom?”

You glance back at the goat mother, nodding your thanks and turn back to Frisk, “Nope, I live in a house all by myself.”

Frisk frowns, scrunching their face in a confused expression and continues signing.

“Don’t you get lonely?”

“Well, sometimes,” you admit with a shrug. You’re silently questioning if it’s Toriel who’s really asking that question, but you decide it’s best not to voice that thought. “But I have a cool friend named Allie who comes over and keeps me company sometimes!”

“Could we come over too? Me and my friends?” The child is bouncing up and down excitedly, and as nervous as you can be around new company … you can’t say no to a face like that. You guess you finally understand what Sans meant when he said that he couldn’t say no to the kid.

“Sure! But, ah, not too many at a time, okay? I have a small house, I wouldn’t want to crowd people,” you smile down at the child and their eyes twinkle with delight.

They nod and run back to the goat monster who reaches out to gently rub the top of the kid’s head. They begin signing away and Toriel laughs, “Frisk is asking if we’re actually going out to eat now. Let’s be on our way then, you said you didn’t have a car?”

The three of you walk down the next block, Toriel and Frisk taking the lead.

“Well, not today,” you glance away from your new friends. “I just like walking to work a lot is all, I don’t live too far away.”

“But is it really so safe to - oh, listen to me what am I saying,” she chuckles. “Of course you wouldn’t have a problem, never mind little old me.”

You pause, immediately forgetting what you were about to say, “Wait, safe? What do you mean, safe?”

“Um,” the large woman glances down at the child, who has a very sullen look on their face all of a sudden. “Never you mind. We can talk later.”

“… Okay.”

You allow the subject to drop, confused only for a moment before you come to the horrible realization of what Toriel must have meant. _Oh. Oh no._ You immediately want to ask if she or anyone else has been attacked and if she’s okay but you bite your tongue. Now is not the time and place, she it’s clear she doesn’t want to talk about this in front of Frisk. You don’t blame her. She can’t hide that sort of thing from Frisk forever, and she knows it, but she’ll be damned if she ever lets on that she’s terrified of never seeing her friends again every day.

Toriel’s car is a silver mini-van, parked neatly against the sidewalk. She takes the keys out of her pocket and clicks the doors open. Frisk immediately runs towards the open door and scrambles to sit in their seat.

“Use your walking feet my child,” she calls out, putting a soft paw to her mouth to cover a giggle. Turning to you, she asks, “Would you like to sit up front with me or with Frisk?”

“Up front would be nice,” you smile. You hadn’t really considered where you’d sit and wasn’t sure where would be appropriate. Different people had different rules.

“Doors are unlocked then,” the goat woman made her way around the car to the driver’s seat.

Once everyone was settled in and properly buckled in, Toriel pulls out of her parking spot and drives north. You can hear Frisk rummaging around in back, seeing Toriel glance up to the rear-view to watch her child. It’s very clear that she loves them and you find it rather touching. You turn around in your seat to see what Frisk is up to and you see they have a pencil and note pad. They look up, noticing you and wave the items with great excitement.

“You gonna write for me so we can talk in the car?”

They nodded, scribbling some words down on the paper before shoving it back up in your face, stretching their seatbelt.

“Frisk, my child, do no strain your seatbelt like that. It is not safe,” she gently scolds, not taking her eyes off the road. Frisk huffs, sitting back in their seat with an exaggerated thump and sticking their tongue out. “I saw that.” The tongue disappears into their mouth.

You chuckle, “Moms always have eyes in the back of their heads, huh?”

Frisk nods and grins, waving the paper in the air again. You crane your neck a little more than is comfortable to properly read it.

“‘What do you like to do for fun?’ Well, nothing interesting I suppose, I sometimes-” 

“______, dear, don’t stretch around like that either. It’s not safe.”

Now it’s your turn to get chided and you give an exaggerated groan, flumping back into your seat. “Okay, _Mom._ ”

Toriel smirks, still keeping her focus on the road ahead, “I will always be your mother when she is not in the vicinity.”

“Thanks,” you mumble, actually touched by her statement. You immediately decide that Toriel is too kind for her own good. She looks over to you, smiling, and goes back to paying attention to traffic. She was expecting a more sarcastic answer but was more than happy to accept your thanks.

“So, anyways, Frisk,” you cough and sit upright, glancing back at the child but making sure to keep your body facing forward. “I just draw and write things sometimes, nothing really in depth or special. Just kinda silly things, you know? Like cartoons.”

You can hear the child scribble something down then wobble the pad of paper in the air. Understanding, you reach your hand back and grab the paper. Retracting you hand and getting a closer look you read aloud, “‘Cartoons are cool though! I really love the one with Garnet and Steven and Pearl and Amethyst. They’re my heroes.’”

Passing back the notepad you reply, “Hey, excellent choice! I keep hearing good things about that cartoon, haven’t gotten the chance to sit down and watch it yet. I haven’t watched many cartoons lately.”

You hear furious scribbling on the other end, keeping your arm relaxed and held back so the child can give you back the pad when they’re ready. You feel the paper slap your palm and your fingers immediately curl around it as you tuck it closer to you.

“‘You have to watch it!!!! It’s so cool!!! Can we come over to your house and watch it sometime? Please?’” You smile and turn to Toriel, “Well, if it’s all right with your mother …”

“It would be wonderful to watch Steven Universe with you,” she hums, pulling into a small parking lot. You suddenly realize that you’re right outside the café and Toriel slides into a nearby spot. She turns off the car and you all make your way to the café doors.

Suddenly you’re being pummeled by a blur of white and orange-red, finding yourself off the ground and being restricted in a tight hug by thin but strong arms. You resist the urge to scream by sucking in a breath and hear a loud voice clatter next to yours, “Hello!!! You must be ______!!! I am The Great Papyrus!! Sans told me you were his friend and that you were a fan of mine!”

Your feet manage to find the ground again as you relocate your balance. The tall skeleton steps back with a wide grin on his face. You blink, confused, trying to piece together who this is when a smaller skeleton steps out from behind him.

“c’mon, pap, settle down. you’ll make ‘em _jump right outta their skin_ if you surprise them like that,” he has an even wider grin on his face and as the gears start to click you watch the taller one’s grin turn into a frown. How he does that you’ll never know.

“Saaans!!!” Papyrus groans in agony and Sans just chuckles along.

“Don’t worry,” you reply, a smirk growing on your face. The brothers turn to you curiously as you continue, “You didn’t _rattle my bones._ ”

Sans blinks, processes what you just said, and bursts out laughing Papyrus groaned even louder, slumping his shoulders back. You can hear Toriel chuckling behind you and Frisk’s silent wheezing laughter.

“You didn’t tell me she did puns too!” the tall skeleton whined, looking down on his brother with a false accusatory glare.

“Must’ve slipped my mind. What can you expect from a _bonehead_ like me?”

“I’ve changed my mind!!!! I’m leaving!!!!! I’m leaving this is terrible!!!!!!!” he shrieks and the four of you have to chase him down with apologies before you can finally set foot in the café.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much again everyone for all your lovely comments, kudos, and bookmarks! You're all amazing, thank you for motivating me to continue to write!!
> 
> And hey feel free to come say hi to me on my tumblr at [Thycora](http://thycora.tumblr.com/%22), I'm always up for a chat, be it messenger or ask.


	5. Meet and Greet

It hadn’t taken too long to bring Papyrus back around and get settled down in the café. You were expecting to see Allie there, but she had sent you a quick text saying that somehow all the ferrets managed to get loose and she had to wrangle them in so she couldn’t make it. You let her know that everyone would miss her and then proceeded to give her number out to all of your new friends. Fair was fair, after all. You also decided it would be a good idea to give Papyrus and Frisk your number too, and upon receiving your number the small child barraged your phone with emoji’s. They kept sending you flowers and you thought it was particularly adorable.

Papyrus explained to you at great length how Sans was going to just stay home and let Papyrus meet you, but the taller skeleton wasn’t about to let his brother be lazy. Especially not when he had a fan! You thanked the taller skeleton for bringing his brother along and Toriel echoed your sentiments.

A waitress came by and took your orders, and you were a little surprised when the skeleton brothers actually ordered something as well. Papyrus wanted a muffin, Sans some decaf coffee with extra creamer, Toriel some chamomile tea, hot chocolate for Frisk, and a simple bagel for you.

“Human!” Papyrus snatched your attention with his booming voice. “I was curious, how did you come to know of FableFace? Sans wanted to know but he was too shy to ask.”

Your eyes flickered to the smaller skeleton and you swore you saw a flash of blue on his cheekbones, but you chose to politely ignore it. “My friend Allie, actually. She goes by PrincessAmore? Are you on the forum?”

“Oh, yes! I am!” The table quivers with excitement. “I am COOLSKELETON95!! I am very popular there, I have many friends! Surely I have talked to PrincessAmore before, she sounds nice! Sans told me you just signed up yesterday, you must be very excited to meet us all in person!! Did you have a good first meeting? Did you make a lot of friends? I can help you if you want!”

The tall skeleton’s over-enthusiastic energy reminds you of Allie, amped up to 11, and you can’t help but grin. You’re not sure how you’d handle the two in the same spot, but you’re sure it’d be one hell of a time. A frown creases your face as you think on last night, but it was an overall positive experience you supposed.

“Thank you for the offer, Papyrus. Hey, if you wanted to show me the ropes of making friends there I’d love to learn. My first experience was … well, it started off good, then some people tried accusing me of …” You glanced over to Frisk who was happily playing with their phone. You really weren’t sure if that was an appropriate conversation for a 10 year old. “Nasty things. I felt sad, but Sans was on duty for the night I guess and helped me out! He even sent me a pm to check on me, which was really sweet. So, ah, thank you Sans, again.”

You carefully left out the part where he asked you about your departed sibling and you had snapped at him. No one else needed to know.

“eh, it was no big deal.” Sans shrugged, a small grin plastered on his skull. Come to think of it, you don’t think you ever saw his expression change? Or at least his smile … did he always smile? Wouldn’t that be uncomfortable?

“Sans I am so proud of you!! You did your job!!” Papyrus leans over onto his brother and wraps him in a big hug and you have to stop yourself from going ‘aww’. He shrugs and pats his brother’s arm.

After releasing Sans, Papyrus reaches a long hand across the table and places it firmly on your shoulder, making you jump a little. He has the most solemn look you’ve ever seen on his face, and you’ve only seen it for about 15 minutes!

“______, I am very sorry you met some mean people on FableFace. I promise I won’t ever let them hurt you again! I will be your friend and I will never say such nasty things!” He sounds so sincere and has such conviction in his words, it’s probably the sweetest thing someone (aside from Allie, you really needed to get out more) has said to you in a long time.

“Thank you, Papyrus,” you reach up your other hand and place it on his gloved one, still holding your shoulder firmly, but it’s not in an aggressive way. It’s very comforting, you think. You don’t think Papyrus has a negative bone in his body. The thought makes you smirk a little and you try to hide it, this is actually a really touching moment! But you’ll tell Sans the pun later you think. “That really means a lot to me, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it!” he beams, giving your shoulder a last pat before retracting his hand to his side. “The Great Papyrus always strides to be the best possible friend!”

You try not to giggle at his ‘The Great Papyrus’ comment and give an appreciative hum. Toriel, who is sitting next to you, places a sturdy paw on your back.

“Truly I am sorry I couldn’t be there for you last night my friend, but I am very thankful to Sans for him being there,” she rubs a comforting circle on your back and gives Sans a look filled with gratitude.

Sans smirks, shrugging off the compliments, “well, it’s not like i could _postpone_ my job. they were _threading_ on very thin ice.”

Papyrus lets out an expected groan and you and Toriel are left in a fit of giggles. You can hear Frisk tapping the table lightly; they’re clearly enjoying Sans’ puns.

It’s about this time that the same waitress comes back over, dropping off everyone’s order and being none too careful about making sure Sans and Toriel’s drinks don’t spill. They don’t seem to notice so you give the waitress, ‘Marcy’ the nametag reads, your best stink-eye as she sets down your food. She attempts to stink-eye you back, and all your nerves are telling you to back down but your care for your newfound friends pushes you more. You make a show of whipping out a napkin and writing down her name, all without breaking eye contact. She flushes red and leaves the table as soon as she can. You watch her skitter off to the kitchen, still glowering.

“hey, ______, did you get a sourdough bagel?” Sans asks, snapping your gaze towards him.

“Uh … no? Why?”

“oh, i was just wondering cause you’ve got an awful _sour_ look on your face.” He grins at you and you can hardly suppress a chuckle.

“Sans, please! ______ is trying to enjoy their food!”

“No, no, it’s fine Papyrus,” you laugh, but your eyes settle back onto Sans with determination, glancing over at Toriel who is wearing a worried frown. “I’m just so … angry that she had the gall to do that to you guys! You’re part of the reasons monsters became free, you’re so important and she’s being rude to you? How do you guys live with that?”

Frisk looks up from their hot chocolate, concerned for their friends. The place a hand on Toriel’s sleeve and she reaches her free hand over to cover theirs.

“You learn to tolerate it,” Toriel sighs, gazing at her child with kindness. She is unable to face you. “Truly it is a mean thing for her to do, but she just doesn’t understand monsters fully like you or Allie or Frisk. Give her time, she will come around.”

You’re a little shocked at Toriel’s willingness to forgive Marcy so quickly, you almost want to snap at her but you know that won’t help anything. Papyrus fidgets with his muffin wrapping, his foot tapping on the floor in an anxious pattern.

“Some humans just take longer to learn,” he sighs, not able to meet your eyes either and now you feel kind of bad. You didn’t mean to cause a scene, you just wanted them to be treated fairly. “They can all be nice, I know they can! It will just … take a while.”

“paps is right,” Sans starts opening the creamer caps and puts his coffee aside. “humans will come around eventually, we’re all making good progress. right, frisk?”

The child nods excitedly, a renewed energy found and they begin signing away. Toriel translates for you, “As ambassadors for the monsters, I have a lot of work to do! But I know it is all good work. I can’t wait for the day when everyone will be friends.”

The goat woman hums and nods, “Well said my child. You are truly a miracle of miracles.”

  
Frisks cheeks turn a cute pink and they immediately decide to busy themselves with the whipped cream that’s slopping to the side of their drink. You smile and watch them sloppily sip up their cocoa and start to nibble at your own bagel when you realize Sans isn’t drinking his coffee.

_He’s drinking the creamer straight from the tiny cups._

You’re still processing that he’s drinking from the tiny cups when you realize that he’s _drinking_ and Papyrus is actually _eating_ and where the hell does all that stuff go? They don’t have an esophagus or stomach or ...

Before you can continue your panicked train of thought, Sans catches you staring and managed to grin even winder than before. Every rational part of you is screaming to look away and mind your own damn business but you can’t tear your eyes away. You watch the smug skeleton take three tiny cups of creamer, tear back their caps, place them in-between his four fingers, and guzzle them all down at once. He doesn’t break eye contact with you for a second and you’re not even sure how the creamer got past his teeth in the first place. He sets the cups back down with a determined thud, his grin wider than ever.

“Sans, don’t be rude,” Toriel chides, taking a meaningful sip of her tea.

“i can’t help it if i’m the _cream of the crop,_ ” he winks at you and now it’s your turn to feel the heat in your cheeks.

“Sans noooo!!” Papyrus whines around a mouthful of muffin. He can’t properly complain with his teeth full and you examine your suddenly very interesting bagel right in front of you. You feel your cheeks flush red as you look away, you didn’t want to stare at Papyrus too. That would just be rude!

While you’re inspecting your bagel and Sans is chuckling to himself you decide to whip out your phone and send an emergency text to Allie.

 

> _**You:** Allie I was staring at Sans drink without meaning to and I made a total ass out of myself what do I do pls advise_
> 
> _**Allie:** hahaha I’m sure everyone does that at first it’s no big_
> 
> _**You:** No you don’t understand he punned at me_
> 
> _**Allie:** What?_
> 
> _**You:** I’ll tell you later bc still at the café but like omg I’m an idiot_
> 
> _**Allie:** lmao kay_

You push your phone back into your wallet and begin picking apart your bagel. Frisk notices your discomfort and you hear your phone vibrate suddenly.

 

> _**Frisk:** that’s okay I stared the first time too._
> 
> _**Frisk:** Sans is just a huuuuuuuuge dork._

You can’t help but smile and flash the child a thankful grin, sending them a quick text back.

 

> _**You:** Thanks, Frisk. Yeah Sans is a huge dork._
> 
> _**Frisk:** The hugest._

“Are you two having fun?” The goat woman muses, looking down at you both with a smirk.

“Oh, yeah. Just agreeing that Sans is a dork,” you nod, and look back to said dork.

“Hey, I resemble that remark,” Sans scoffs and you all share a good laugh.

The next hour is spent exchanging jokes and stories, Papyrus even joins in a couple times and you have to say he’s a lot more humorous than he lets on. But eventually it’s time to go home and Frisk needs to get started on their homework. You say goodbye to the skeleton brothers, receiving a great big hug from Papyrus and a hand wave from Sans. He really is a lazy bones, you think to yourself.

Toriel offers to drive you home, and at first you try to say she could just drop you off at the library but she insists. And as much as you can’t say no to Frisk, you can’t say no to Toriel. So you allow her to take you home, thank her again for the nice afternoon and ride, and immediately flop down on the couch for some you time. You don’t bother turning on the TV as you whip out your phone to tell Allie about what happened.

 

> _**You:** okay so he got coffee right but hes not drinking the coffee hes just drinking the creamer HES JUST DRINKING THE CREAMER_
> 
> _**You:** I DON’T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND HE JUST TOOK THE LITTLE CUPS AND STARTED DRINKING OUT OF THEM WTF_
> 
> _**You:** and i stare because im A STUIOID FUCK and he catches me and then he fuckin stares me down and does it AGAIN!!!!_
> 
> _**Allie:** omg _
> 
> _**You:** Tori told him not to be rude but like she should be telling me not to be rude bc starin at people eat is pretty rude_
> 
> _**You:** and then he fuckking goes_
> 
> _**You:** “i cant help it if im cream of the crop”_
> 
> _**Allie:** !!!!!!_
> 
> _**You:** so in short I’m a terrible human being how do I deal_
> 
> _**Allie:** guuuurrll he was flirtin with you!!_
> 
> _**You:** oh not this shit again_
> 
> _**Allie:** no no hear me out_
> 
> _**Allie:** Like that was a subtle hit-on if nothing else._
> 
> _**Allie:** C’mon, consider it at least, will you?_
> 
> _**You:** After I bleach my brain, sure. _
> 
> _**Allie:** Aww, come on. I’m sure you had a fun time!!_
> 
> _**You:** Yeah, I guess I did._
> 
> _**Allie:** See there you go. That’s one of the first steps to a successful date!_
> 
> _**You:** Oh so was I dating Papyrus, Toriel, and Frisk too?_
> 
> _**Allie:** you know what I mean :p_
> 
> _**You:** No actually no I don’t._
> 
> _**Allie:** Yes you dooooooooo._
> 
> _**You:** Nope I know nothing of the sort I don’t know anything about dates happening or flirting being a thing that happened today._
> 
> _**Allie:** U AND SANS KISSIN IN A TREE_
> 
> _**You:** allie plEASE_
> 
> _**Allie:** K_
> 
> _**Allie:** I_
> 
> _**Allie:** S_
> 
> _**Allie:** S_
> 
> _**Allie:** I_
> 
> _**Allie:** N_
> 
> _**Allie:** G_
> 
> _**Allie:** !_
> 
> _**You:** I’m blocking your forever._
> 
> _**Allie:** No you’re not! :p_
> 
> _**You:** Okay I’m not. I’m just going to ignore you._
> 
> _**Allie:** no ______ don’t do that_
> 
> _**Allie:** no come back!!_
> 
> _**Allie:** who will i coach on smoochin people??_
> 
> _**Allie:** ______ don’t leeeaavvveee meeeeeeeeeeeeeee_
> 
> _**Allie:** okay goodnight shybooty_
> 
> _**You:** Goodnight._
> 
> _**Allie:** Ha! Knew you couldn’t stay away._
> 
> _**Allie:** Ok seriously though, goodnight!_

You smile down at your phone before placing it back at your side. You figure you’ll get yourself a small dinner before really heading off to bed, it is a bit early for goodnights but you know Lilly, Allie’s girlfriend, usually goes to bed around this time so your friend has adjusted her schedule to better fit her girlfriend’s. Overall, you think to yourself, it was a _sansational_ day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yall are leavin such nice comments and kudos and everything! You're all amazing, thank you so much again for all your support!
> 
> I'm sorry this chapter is a little shorter than the others, I wasn't quite sure where to go with it.
> 
> Again, I am [Thycora](http://thycora.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you want to chat :33
> 
>  **EDIT:** welp im a goof and forgot to put in the chapter title originally lmao


	6. Strike One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for: some blood, flash back, and panic attack. Let me know if you think I need to put additional warnings.
> 
> ... What's in the box?

You’d been meeting off and on with Sans, Toriel, and Papyrus over the course of a couple of weeks.  Allie would join in too sometimes, and just like you suspected there was no such thing as volume control when she and Papyrus interacted.  Lilly had come over to meet with the five of you sometimes, but she seemed uncharacteristically nervous around the skeleton brothers.  There wasn’t a reason to be afraid, Sans was too lazy to even think about hurting someone if they offended him and Papyrus never let anything bother him, except Sans’ puns.

One day at work you’d met two of Sans’ friends, Alphys and Undyne.  Alphys was a small yellow lizard monster with amazing intelligence, she was coming in because she wanted to do more research from books instead of computers, and she also knew you were a friend of her friends.  Getting Undyne to quiet down in the library was a challenge in and of itself until the second she figured out where all the manga’s were stored.  The tall fish woman promptly gathered as many books as she could hold, found a comfortable chair to sit in, and spent the afternoon reading.  The smaller monster, who you learned quickly was her girlfriend, snuggled up to her with some books about human surgery.  You thought it was mentioned somewhere that Alphys was incredibly intelligent with robotics and biology, but you’d never seen it in action.  When you went to leave your shift she and Undyne insisted on staying and reading “just a few more” even if you weren’t going to be there.

You’d had such a great time getting to meet with Papyrus, Toriel, Sans, Frisk, Alphys, and Undyne that you’d nearly forgotten your quest to get a date!  It was around then that Allie started giving you ‘homework assignments’ to post on the dating section of the forum.  You’d gotten a few offers, someone by the same StrongHorse7 wouldn’t stop sending you winking emoji’s and frankly it made you uncomfortable.  He was nice enough to back off when you asked him to at least.

Burgerpants caught your attention again, and as it turned out he lived close-by too.  You’d gone to dinner with him once, and while his awkwardness was slightly endearing, you couldn’t get past the thick smell of tobacco he carried with him.  You had felt pretty bad about it, even after explaining to the cat-monster exactly what the problem was but he just shook his head with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it, little buddy,” he’d said.  “I honestly didn’t even expect a date.  But this was nice.  Everyone says you get a second chance on the surface, you know?  But sometimes you need a third … or a fifth … or a twentieth …”

He’d honestly looked so sad that you offered him one last hug and promised to remain friends.  Burgerpants was absolutely delighted, tail-tip twitching with delight, and afterwards he’d brought you home.

It had been about three days since that date and you were honestly starting to get bored.  That’s when Toriel called you to ask if she could come in early one morning to bring in her kindergarten class to learn about the library.  After clearing it with your boss, you gave her a resounding yes! She was so excited that she made arrangements with the school and the children’s parents to come over the next morning.

It was now the next morning, and you strode into the library with confidence.  You loved having little children around, even if they did manage to get a few books sticky, wet, and/or torn.  Toriel promised you they’d be on their best behavior, but your promised her it wouldn’t be a problem.  Libraries were a place of learning, and if they didn’t accept that the newest members of the generation were going to be a little dirty, no one was going to learn anything.

“You look awfully happy,” Kane snickered as you settled down into your seat at your desk.

“Yes, I am,” you replied, hardly able to hide your grin.  “Toriel is coming with her kindergarten class this morning!  Aren’t you excited?”

He furrowed his dark brows, “Eh.  Could care less about kids, they’re so noisy.”

“Couldn’t care,” a distant voice corrected him, making the young man jump.  You attempted to suppress a giggle, to no avail.

“Wha…?”

“Couldn’t care,” the black woman repeated, coming out from behind the printer section.  It was Tiana, your boss.  Ooooh, he was in for it now.  Tiana never let his shit slide.  “You mean you couldn’t care less.  Saying you ‘could care less’ means that you do care, if only a little bit.  This is exactly why we need to be inviting young students into our library.”

She nodded at you, and you couldn’t help sitting up a little straighter.  You were so glad that your boss was so nice and so accepting of monsters and children and everyone.  She continued to stride over to you as Kane sulked by the corner of your desk.  You noticed she was carrying a small parcel and you cocked your head to one side, a bit curious.

“This was found in the returned book bin with your name on it this morning,” she stated, placing the box on your desk.  “Don’t know why they couldn’t give it to you directly.  Maybe a secret admirer?”  Her deep brown eyes flashed with laughter and it took all your willpower not to turn into a tomato.

“Maybe.  It’s so small though … and it’s not that heavy,” you shake the box a little, something is floundering inside.  You realize part of the package feels … wet?

You furrow your brow, this can’t be good.  Kane decides that you opening this anonymous present is more important than pouting in the corner and leans over.  Tiana watches you tear around the brown packaging to discover a white thin white cardboard box and decides it’s not in her best interests to spy on her employees.  The small white box looks completely normal, the underside still feels damp and by now you can practically feel Kane breathing down your neck.  You wave an arm back in his general direction and he groans, getting the hint and backing up.  You listen and wait for him to take two steps back, and then you open the box.

And you scream.

“What?!  What is it?  Are you okay?!” Kane rushes over to you faster than you’ve ever known him to do and places his strong hands on your shaking shoulders.  You have one hand clamped to your mouth after your loud screaming, the librarian in you wants to curse you out for making such a noise in a library in the first place but the more terrified part of you is far more powerful.

The man looks down at what is inside the box and lets out a yelp of surprise, clutching your shoulders and he begins shaking too.  The both of you are shivering with fear, unable to move as Tiana storms back over.

“What the hell is all this ruckus about?  Kane if this is another prank-” your boss inhales a sharp breath through her teeth. “Oh god …”

Now all three of you are staring at it and the rest of the library staff, even the janitors have come to see what the fuss is.  Tiana just stumbles back, shaking her head and covering her mouth to let everyone else see what’s going on, and they all take turns at being utterly shocked and disgusted.

There’s a bloodied goat’s ear in the box, and a bloody goat’s hoof.

“Rachel, honey, take ____ to the bathroom, will you?  I’m calling the police.  Oh, and sweetie, you can take the day off.” Tiana mutters to herself, “Half tempted to just close the damn building.”

Kane has to be pried off your shoulders, he still hasn’t moved.  He’s completely paralyzed with shock.  You’re not much better off as Rachel helps you from your seat to your feet.  Your shoes fumble over the carpet, barely able to remember how to walk in a straight line.  You can feel yourself shaking in Rachel’s arm and you think that’s Val on your other side but you’re not sure.  Could be Taylor, they both have long black hair.  The image of the bloodied goat parts are still ringing in your mind and you’re having all kinds of terrible flashbacks you really wish you weren’t having right now.  You can just see the blood on your hands, feel your blood pulsing through your arms and leaking out from where the two women are gripping you like a vice.

There was a faint crashing of metal and screaming, you knew it was in your head and it wasn’t here but damn if it didn’t feel like it was right in your fucking face.  You could barely hear the two women coaching you to breathe slower as they took you to into the ladies room.

“______, can you hear me?  Squeeze my hand if you can hear me, okay?  You’re going to be okay, squeeze my hand, let me know you’re in there.” Rachel’s soft voice is muffled by the sound of horns blaring in your ear.  You can barely make out what she’s saying but you have enough consciousness to press your fingers into her hand and she lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god.  Val, go get a chair, will you?”

“On it!”

You think you hear the door rushing open and slamming shut again but you’re not completely sure.  Your chest is pounding, your heart is screaming to be released and you still haven’t removed your hand form your mouth.  Your fingers begin to nervously work around Rachel’s palm, kneading them like a cat.  It was always one of your bad nervous habits but your coworker didn’t seem to mind.  Her lips were pursed in a permanent frown, you remembered that Rachel was never one to mince words or be gentle about anything, but she was being very kind now.  You could feel your nails clawing into her skin, never breaking it, but pushing it up and down, ebbing and flowing like a tide.  There was the sound of tires screeching, of metal clanging into metal, car horns, someone yelling, your brother yelling, there was so much yelling, you did this you did this you did this-

Suddenly you find yourself on a rather uncomfortable chair.  _This isn’t my car …_ you think, and you realize your left ear is roaring with pain.  You start to reach your left hand up to soothe it when you realize that your left hand is clenching your ear with the force of one thousand suns.  You release it, gasping for air you didn’t realize you never had.

“There she is!” Val chuckles nervously and your eyes dart over to her. “Hey there … we back now?  I got you some water.”

Seeing the tall woman crouched beneath you is strange, but the smile on her face is reassuring.  She offers you a glass of water and you take it in your free hand, the other still gripping onto Rachel’s like your life depended on it.  You’re still shaking and can barely keep the cup straight, so Val reaches out her own hand to help you steady it.  Instinct is telling you to chug the water but Val won’t let you, shaking her head and urging you to take small slow sips.  Somehow you manage to listen, and after a few sips and deep breaths, you can see clearly again.  There’s no blood.  There’s no sound of metal.  You’re safe.

“Could, ah, I have my hand back?” Rachel asks, some of her fingers looking a little red.

“Oh, oh god, sorry!” You immediately release and instantly regret the action. “Ow.” Your hand is sore from being clenched so tightly.

“You’re telling me,” she scoffs, flipping her light brown hair over her shoulders.  “I’m going to let Tiana know you’re all right.”

“Thanks,” and without another word she’s gone.

The black haired woman before you rests a hand on your knee, trying her hardest to keep the fear out of her eyes.  “Hey, you okay?” She asks, rubbing comforting circles on it.

“Been better,” you can’t really hide the bitterness in your voice and she hums sympathetically.  You take another sip of water, trying to clear your mind and focus on calming down when a sudden realization sends you to your feet. “Toriel!  I have to call her, she doesn’t know!!”

“Who?  Honey, slow down, you just got a bloody goat ear and hoof from the book bin, I don’t think you need to be calling anyone,” she frowns as she rises to her full height, completely towering over you.

“Toriel, the kindergarten teacher, the woman I was talking with-”

“You mean the monster?”

You gape at her in complete shock, you can’t believe she just said that.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that!  Sorry, I was just confused, I’ve never really seen her around … sorry.”

“It’s okay … but we have to call her.  I have to call her.”

“Sure thing sweetie.  Did you want me to stay with you while you do that or you good?”

“… Could you stay?”

“Of course.”

Val waits patiently with you in the bathroom as you work up the courage to pull out your phone and call Toriel.  She slips her hand into yours, giving it a reassuring squeeze.  You squeeze back, thankful, and tap the call button on Toriel’s contact info.  It rings once … twice …

“C’mon, Tori, pick up …” you mutter, thumb idly tracing the structure of your friend’s hand.

Three … four …

“Hello?  ______?  Is everything all right?  We were just on our way to line up at the door for the library-”

“Don’t!” You sound a lot harsher than you intend to.  Toriel goes into shocked silence and you clear your throat, trying again. “Don’t, please … you can’t … you shouldn’t come today.”

“What is the matter?  Your voice, it’s shaking,” the goat woman is incredibly concerned for you.

“There was … somebody … ah … they …” you can’t quite find the right words, you’re absolutely sure someone used a goat’s ear on purpose and you’re terrified to tell her.

“Did somebody hurt you?” She sounds angry and concerned all at once and your heart bleeds for her.

“No, no, no, not directly I’m fine.  I’m fine.  Tori … god this is disturbing, I’m so fucking sorry, someone chopped off a goat’s ear, made sure it was bloody.  There was a bloody goat's hoof too.  They put them in a box and addressed it to me.  Here.  At the library … I think …” You can hear her heavy breathing on the other line and you feel your gut churning. “I think someone wants you to stay away.  From here.  Maybe they want me to not be around you, I dunno …”

“Oh my stars, ______ I’m so sorry that happened to you!” You’re surprised by her kindness, this was not the first response you were expecting. “Don’t worry about a thing, we’ll work something out.  I promise you no one is going to hurt you because you are friends with me.  That’s just ridiculous.  I’ll let the children know we can’t come today, you should take the day off sweetie.”

“Tiana already said I could,” you give a nervous chuckle.

“That’s wonderful dear.  I have to attend to my class now, would you mind terribly if I stopped by your house this afternoon?  I want to see that you’re okay.”

“Y-yeah, sure.”

“Wonderful.  I’ll see you later then with some tea.  Take care, and text me if you need anything.  I am always here for you.”

“Toriel, you have a job-”

“I also have a friend who has been traumatized,” she reminds you.  Her voice is firm but not unkind. “I can lose one day of work if it means making sure that you are safe.”

“… Thank you, Tori.”

“You’re welcome, ______.  I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

You sigh and put your phone back in your pocket.  This was too much to take in all at once … how was Toriel taking it so well?  This threat was definitely directed at her, why wasn’t she panicking?  A hand briefly tightening around yours brought you back to reality.

“Hey … you good?” Val’s deep brown eyes swam with worry.

“Yeah … better ... let’s go outside.”

She released your hand and led the way, making sure to take the chair with her.  You hadn’t realized you’d flown into a panic and now you feel kind of stupid for it.  _It’s nothing you can’t handle,_ you remind yourself.  _It’s gonna be okay._

You make your way out to the main lobby and notice Kane pacing about, wringing his wrists.  His eyes flicker from person to person until he sees you and he immediately runs over, roughly grabbing your shoulders with his hands.

“______!!  I’m so fucking sorry, I swear that wasn’t me, I-I would never-”

“Please let go,” there’s tension in your voice and your eyes are still wild with fright.  You’re not sure you’re ready for sudden contact after that whole ordeal.

“Right, sorry,” he mumbles and steps back, going back to fidgeting his hands together. “B-but you know I didn’t do it, right?  I wouldn’t do this, this is …”

“I know,” you can’t meet his gaze and are bitterly reminded about how Toriel and Papyrus couldn’t meet yours when that serious subject came up. “I know you didn’t … thank you.  I don’t blame you.”

You’re not exactly sure what you’re thanking him for, but it seems to help as his shoulders release their hunch.  He opens his mouth to say something, but words don’t come.  He sighs and gives you a small smile before wandering off.  Tiana approaches you next, her phone in hand.

“______, I know this just happened and I hate to put you through more stress but the cops are on their way now.  They want to close down the library for at least today, if not for the next few days.  They want to interview you.  Can you do that for them?” Her tone is flat and serious, but you can tell by the way she jangles her bracelet she’s anxious about the whole thing.

“Y-yeah,” you stutter. “Yeah, I think I can …”

“That’s great.  Be brave, okay?  Hey, who’s taking you home?”

The question takes you by surprise, “Uh, no one.  I normally walk home alone, I live just 15 minutes from here, so, I always try to walk … I thought you knew?”

“No, no I knew, I just,” she huffs and runs a hand through her curled hair. “I guess I just got confused is all.  Distracted.  At least let the police take you home, or someone.  I don’t want you walking home alone after this … incident.”

“I-I’m not a child,” damn your nervousness.

“No, you are an adult who has been threatened with a bloody goat ear.  You know what, take the week off.  Honey, I don’t want you stepping in here until after this whole thing is cleared up.”

“But what ab-about my bills?”

“Paid leave.  Consider it an early vacation.”  Tiana clicks her tongue and lets out a sigh. “Please, I don’t want you getting hurt … and hey, call if you need anything, all right?  You still got my number?”

“Yeah … thanks,” you mumble, feeling suddenly bashful.  Tiana doesn’t give paid leave lightly, and you know better at this point than to say no to her.  You absently think about how you haven’t been able to say no to people lately, and start to worry if it’s a problem.  They’ve all insisted things because they wanted you to be happy and safe, and you felt it was genuinely true, but … _no, stop that._ You shudder, _these people … Toriel, Frisk, Sans, Allie, Papyrus, Tiana, Val, Alphys, Undyne … they like you.  They honestly like you.  Remember that._

You made a motion to step towards your desk to sit down like you normally would but stopped.  The box was still there.  You couldn’t see its contents from this angle but you didn’t particularly care to see them again.  Tiana seemed to notice your discomfort and offered you her room until the police came.  You let her lead you in, thanking her again and again for the paid leave and you were so sorry if this caused any trouble for the library-

“Don’t worry about it,” she smiled. “This isn’t your fault.  We’ll find out who did this, we have cameras.  Hey, I have some of those adult coloring books in my desk, third drawer down.  Crayons and colored pencils are in there too.  Sometimes I take those out and just scribble away when I’m stressed.”

“Really?”

“Really really,” Tiana hums and you both share a smile at the reference.  “I’m going to head out now, but I’ll be back with the police when they get here, okay?”

“Okay … thanks Tiana!”

“No problem.”

She shuts the door behind her with a click and you wait a few moments to enjoy the quiet room.  It’s warm, the green chair you’re sitting in is well cushioned, long dark wooden arms reach out from either side of the chair.  Her desk is a beautiful mahogany and she has a cute flower lamp next to her desktop monitor.  Reaching to the third drawer on your right, you find said coloring book, crayons, and coloring pencils.  You smile and take a moment to flip through it, she really has colored in quite a few pages.  Some more messily than others.  You slide a teal colored pencil from the package, pick a blank page, and begin scribbling away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friendos! Thank you all again for your amazing kudos, compliments, bookmarks and more! You're all amazing.
> 
> So, I'm really nervous about this chapter, hope you guys like it! I was worried if this was too much action too soon, but I think it's mild enough. And I want to feel like we're going somewhere. I kept flipping between having the interview happen during this chapter or not, and then decided against it. I was afraid it was too long. Also, I am sorry about doing that to mc/reader ... I'm using this fiction a lot to actually help me through some of my own issues, and while I don't necessarily react that way in real life I feel like reacting that way a lot, so it's kind of like an exercise in learning about myself and learning to be okay and stuff. Hope that's all right with you and everything.
> 
> Cheers, have a good day, and if you want to chat me on tumblr at [Thycora](http://thycora.tumblr.com/) I am always up for a message or ask :33


	7. Comfort

You’ve lost yourself in the coloring book for about an hour when there’s a knock on the door.  You immediately startle, practically jumping out of your seat and flinging colored pencils every which way.

“Ms. ______?  This is Officer Chawley, I’m here with Mr. Henegan and your employer; may we enter?” A strange man’s voice calls from the other side and you want to kick yourself for being spooked so easily.

“C-come in,” you’re really going to need to work on that stutter.

It’s weird, being addressed by your last name but you don’t suppose you can protest it.  The two officers and your boss step in, informing you that they already have a team analyzing the security cameras around the library and are investigating the box and the goat parts for any inclination of where they could have come from.  Someone is apparently interviewing Kane because he was the second one to see what was happening and your boss already had a quick questioning on how she discovered the box and brought it to you.  There are a few spare chairs and you suddenly feel awkward sitting in Tiana’s big one, but she motions you to sit back down.

“So, from what we’ve gathered you walk to work?” Mr. Henegan began, taking out a notepad and a pencil.  It almost reminds you of Frisk and you have to fight to keep yourself from crying.

“Y-yes, I d-do.”

“And you had no indication that anything was wrong on your way to work?”

“N-no sir.”

“What did you do when you first got into the library?”

You paused for a moment, trying to reflect.  You didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, did you? “After I unlocked the doors I went to my desk, turned my computer on, chatted with Kane about Toriel, Toriel was the goat-teacher supposed to be coming today but I already told her-”

“Goat teacher?  Tell us more about Toriel,” Officer Chawley interrupted.

“Um, well, ah, she’s a monster.  A very nice monster!  She used to be the queen of all monsters, but she doesn’t really do that sort of thing now.  Well, she kind of does.  She’s a kindergarten teacher at the school down a ways, you know, Stepson Elementary?”

The police man leaned forward while the other took furious notes, “I see.  And how did you come to know Toriel?”

“Through FableFace, it’s a forum website for humans and monsters to meet?  My friend Allie introduced it to me.  Thought maybe I could get a date,” you gave a nervous chuckle.  Should you really be telling the officers that?  Oh well.  “Um, anyways, the night I signed up and introduced myself a few people started accusing me of ‘fetishizing monsters’ which is ridiculous because they’re people too.  Sans, um, a different person, he’s a monster too, he told them off for me.  He’s a mod on FableFace, just like Toriel.  Tori noticed we both lived in the same place and wanted to meet up and apologize for not being there at that moment and for how rude those people were.  And we’ve been friends ever since, haha.”

Your laugh is weak and you glance around the room.  Your boss is looking a little flushed from learning exactly _why_ you signed up for FableFace but maintains composure otherwise.  Officer Chawley seems to stare into your very being, before slowly nodding and sitting back to let Henegan continue the interview.

“So would it be reasonable to say you’ve been seen interacting with Toriel in public in a friendly way?” Henegan pressed.

“Uh, I guess?  Tori took me and Frisk to the Tiny Café, you know, the one a few blocks from here?”

He nodded, scribbling something else down. “And who is Frisk?”

“Frisk is a child, a human child.  Toriel’s their mom.  She adopted them I guess?  Or they adopted her, I’m really not sure.  Frisk is the kid who broke the barrier and helped set the monsters free, don’t you know that?”

“We do,” Henegan’s voice was curt. “We just want to know exactly what you know.  So now we know you’re in connection with Toriel, and presumably Frisk and similar monster friends … this has been going on for how long?”

You didn’t like the accusation in his tone and shifted in your seat, “About two weeks now.  A little over.”

“I see.  So you said Toriel was coming to see you today?”

“Yes, she was going to bring her kindergarten class to the library for a learning experience.  Toriel asked, I cleared it with Tiana, and today was going to be the day … but …”

“Then you got your package.  Do you have any idea who would do this?  Do you think it was the same people who harassed you online?  Have any old enemies, people you had a fight with, anyone?”

“… No.  N-no I’ve g-got no id-id-d-dea who … who …” Oh boy, here came the water works.

“That’s all we need Ms. ______.  Thank you, ______, Tiana.”

The officers leave and you and Tiana are left in the room, alone.  You’re still sobbing and you don’t know why, trying to fight back the tears.  Your boss is at your side in an instant, something maternal moving over her as she gently slides her arms around you.  You can feel a hand making soothing circles on your back as she whispers every word of comfort she knows into your ears.  It takes a few minutes, but after a few more splutters of apologies and hiccups you think you’re ready to really dry your tears and head back out into the lobby.

You look around, Kane must’ve gotten sent home since you can’t see him anymore.  Rachel is gone, Val is pacing around and a couple other coworkers are talking with the police force.  There’s yellow “do not cross” tape around your desk and all you can do is shake your head.  It’s such a surreal moment.  _There’s no way this can be real …_ but it is real and it is happening.  It is in this moment you hear a commotion happening just outside the library.

“Please!!!! ______ is our friend, you have to let us in!!!!”

“L-l-l-look sir, I’m sorry but the police can’t let anyone-”

“well we’re not anyone.  we’re _no-bodies_ , so i don’t see the problem here.”

“Ugh!!  You’re not helping!!!!”

Oh no.  You know exactly who it is.  Renewed strength surges through you as you hear your friends outside and you run across the way, pushing back the pour soul who is attempting to barricade Sans and Papyrus from the library.  The skeleton brothers barely seem to register as you shove the other person aside, your eyes still puffy and bleary from crying.  The taller skeleton gasps, noticing your disheveled state and immediately bends down to wrap you in a comforting hug.  You’ve spoken with him before about how unsettling it can be to suddenly be removed from the ground and he really seems to be taking that to heart.  You can’t help the next wave of tears as you clutch to his back, shoulders heaving with sobs.  Your legs are too weak to stand, still jello from all the adrenaline and Papyrus kneels down with you, making sure to slow your descent.

“hey … hey buddy, it’s okay … we’re here,” you can feel a boney hand at your shoulders, rubbing up and down in a soothing motion.  You think it’s the first time Sans has ever given you physical contact aside from the few whoopee-cushions in the hand.  You can tell he’s being gentle, so is Papyrus and just knowing how much they care overwhelms you into more tears.  It’s only been two weeks, why would they rush down here to meet someone they barely know?  How did they find out anyways?  The only person you told was Toriel …

“Toriel texted us half an hour ago,” Papyrus murmurs, careful to keep his voice low.  God, he was sweet, too sweet.  “We’re sorry we didn’t get here sooner …”

You try to form some words to reassure Pap that it wasn’t his fault, they didn’t even need to come but you’re too overcome with joy and grief all at once that you just kneel there, crying into his shoulder.  Sans seems to sense that you’re trying to talk through the tears and barely above a whisper he says, “hey, don’t worry about it.  we’re just glad you’re safe.”

Another sob rocks you and you’re half torn between pushing Papyrus away and clinging to him even tighter.  Your breathing starts getting faster and faster, you can hear the skeleton’s bones rattling anxiously beneath you and Sans is at both of your sides, a hand on each shoulder.  He’s never been very good with the whole ‘comfort others’ thing but you seemed to like the hug his bro was giving you, and he knew his bro loved hugs.  So he figured that if he knelt down with you two and pulled you both into his arms it would be a good thing.

You felt Sans’ arms wrap around you and presumably Papyrus, and then his head clonks against both yours and Paps.  It sounds hollow, and for some reason that’s hilarious, so now you’re a sobbing, laughing mess.  Your laughter must be infections because you can hear a soft ‘nyeh-heh’ing next to you and Sans’ own brand of chuckles joins in.  So the three of you just stay like that for a little bit, giggling away the fear like the silly people you are until you can reign in the tears a little bit.

You sniffle a ‘mmok’ and start to pull away from them, Papyrus a bit reluctant to let go but he lets you push back.  Sans has already disengaged himself from the hug, but you find it very sweet that each brother has a hand resting on one of your shoulders.  Their eyes search your face with concern, looking for the faintest hint of pain.  You chuckle, honestly unsure how to respond to their kindness and start to rub at your eyes.

“I don-” you attempt to speak but your throat is still heavy with the lump of sadness. You swallow and try again, “I don’t know why you guys came … I b-b-barely know, you, I- thank you, I-I can’t-”

The tall skeleton doesn’t let you say another word as he brings you back to him, clutching you tight to his armored chest and rubbing circles on your back.

“Don’t be ridiculous, human.  You’re our friend, of course we came.” His words are so soothing, so gentle and you take in a shaky breath, trying to hold back the tears.  You let him hold you, it feels so nice to be held.

Sans pats your shoulder and smiles, “besides, we figured you’d be _bonely_ without us.”

You can’t stop the snort of laughter and end up in a fit of chuckles and you can feel Papyrus’ chest rumble through his groans and that makes you laugh even harder.

“c’mon paps, that was a little _humerus_ ,” he pokes your upper arm and you’re laughing even more now.  You can tell the skeleton holding you is getting frustrated but he is refusing to lose his cool.

“Sans, no.” His tone is flat and full of disapproval, but that only encourages Sans more.

“well _tibia_ honest, i think she’s enjoying this.  no _fibula_.”

You’re cackling now and Papyrus cries, “Not two in a row! Saaans!!”

“jeeze pap don’t be so _sternum_ ,” if that wasn’t the biggest shit-eating grin you don’t know what is.

As you escalate into guffaws and breathless laughter with each pun you can hear Papyrus grinding his teeth.  You can feel his bones shaking beneath you up and down, and you almost swear he’s … laughing?

“you’re smiling.”

“I am and I hate it!”

The brother’s banter sends you into more chuckles and chortles, the lanky skeleton doing his best not to let out the tiniest giggle.  It’s not working though, Sans is having a tough enough time himself as snickers escape through his teeth, and it’s not much longer till Papyrus clacked his head against yours.  He’s trying so hard to muffle his laughter and his breath tickles you neck, so you just start laughing even harder which gets him going and that gets Sans going and all three of you are a giggling, chuckling, and chortling mess.

It takes a little while, but the three of you finally stop laughing and rise to your feet, the tall skeleton taking care to make sure that you don’t fall back down.  The man you’d pushed aside to see your friends is standing an awkward distance away, not wanting to interfere with your reunion but also wanting to follow orders.

“Sorry,” you say to him, rubbing the back of your neck. “I got a little carried away …”

“That’s all right,” the corners of his mouth twitch. “Just, ah, don’t want to get in trouble with the boss is all.”

“Oh, right,” is all you can think to say.  You purse your lips and look around, people are still busy mulling amongst themselves.  You notice Tiana pacing and call out to her, “Hey, Tiana!  Is it okay if I grab my stuff and go with Sans and Pap?”

She turns to you, a bit startled, but smiles and nods.  Your boss has an inkling of a feeling you’re still not comfortable approaching your desk, so she goes to bother one of the officers for your things.  She gets them and you walk toward each other to receive your bag and coat.

“Don’t worry about a thing,” she hums, pulling you into another hug. “Remember, whole week off.  Paid leave.  I don’t wanna see you in here unless you’re doing research.”

“Thank you,” you laugh, patting her back and pulling out of the hug.

Papyrus and Sans are waiting for you at the entrance, still not sure if the guard will let them pass.  You give the guard another apology and start to walk out with the skeleton brothers.

“So … how did you guys get here?” you ask, realizing that they must have a car and drove down or something.

“Oh, we ran!” Papyrus exclaims excitedly.  Your eyes go wide with shock, flickering over to Sans and then back to Pap.  “Well, _I_ ran.  I carried Sans!”

“That makes more sense,” you giggled and the smaller skeleton just shrugged.  He wasn’t ashamed to admit he was carried by his bro.  “Would, ah, would you guys mind walking me to my house?  Tiana doesn’t want me walking home alone …”

“Of course, ______!  We would gladly keep you company!” The tall skeleton smiles down at you, happy as ever.

“and hey if you wanted us to stay over for a bit we wouldn’t object.” His smile is more relaxed than his brother’s but you can tell he meant what he said all the same.

“… Thanks guys.” You continue to be touched by the amount of care these boneheads are showing you.  You don’t know what you did to deserve it, but after this morning … you decide not to question it.

About five minutes into your walk, you’ve barely passed one street corner when Sans starts lagging behind.  Papyrus starts to scold him for being a lazy-bones and you can’t help but laugh.  Their playful banter reminds you of Allie, and then you remember aloud, “I haven’t told Allie yet!”

The brothers stop to look at you as you come to a halt and whip out your phone.  You debate about texting her, but you think this is too serious to be delivered over text.  As you hit the call button you can feel the skeleton brother’s presence near you.

“______?  What’s up, I’m just pulling into work.”  She picks up on the first ring, like always.  You feel kinda bad that you’ve caught her almost at work, but you know she needs to know.  She’s your best friend.

“Make sure you’re parked, I don’t want you slamming any breaks or accelerators or anything,” you caution and it’s hard to hide the frustration in your voice.

Allie hums into the phone, hesitating for a moment and you can hear her kill the engine on the other line.  “Okay, I’m parked.  So what’s the big news?  Is it bad?  I’m assuming it’s bad …”

“Try terrifying,” you counter, and you feel Papyrus’ hand on your shoulder. “Well, not terrifying.  More like shocking and disturbing in general.  So, you know how Tori was supposed to come in today with her kindergarteners, right?”

“Right …”

“Well, I think somebody didn’t want that happening.  I get to my desk, sit down like normal, talk to Kane and Tiana.  And then Tiana walks over with this package saying ‘hey someone left this in the book bin with your name on it’ and so I take it and open it …” you pause for a beat, eyes flickering over to the taller skeleton.  You remember how Sans makes a point not to curse around him. “And … there’s this … this freaking bloody goat’s ear and bloody goat’s hoof!!  Now I’m not saying bloody as an exclamation like ‘bloody h’ or whatever, these things literally had blood dripping from them.”

“Oh my god, are you okay?!” You could tell Allie was having a hard time restraining herself from yelling.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Lil shaky, but fine.”

“You sure?  You didn’t have, like, a panic attack or anything?  I know that blood sometimes sets you off …”

You don’t answer, choosing to look at the ground instead.  You really wished she hadn’t asked that and now you’re starting to feel all kinds of self-conscious around Sans and Papyrus.  You were terrified they’d start judging you, but the second you feel a long lanky arm wrap around your shoulder and a smaller thicker arm wrap around your back, you realize your worries were for nothing.  Maybe they could hear Allie over the phone, it wasn’t like they were eavesdropping or anything … but this was nice.

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry ______.  I wish I coulda been there, you sure you’re okay?”

You can feel both skeletons flinch at your side, you can’t tell who is more horrified and suppress a giggle. “No, that’s okay.  Pap and Sans are here.  _Right here_.”

“Whu- how did- oh, oh!!  Sorry Pap!  Sorry Sans!!”

“eh, it’s fine.  this is a pretty _crappy_ situation,” he seems unbothered by it and you smile.

“Sans!!” Papyrus is more annoyed with the pun, and you’re pretty sure that he’s not upset about the curse.  Come to think of it, you were never sure if Papyrus didn’t like cursing or if Sans just never wanted to hear it around his brother.  That was kind of sweet, in a protective sort of way.

“Yeah, the bone boys came to check up on me a little bit ago,” you smile, noting Sans’ chuckle at ‘bone boys’. “After I had my … episode, I called Toriel and told her about what happened and not to come.  She was so calm though, I mean, she sounded scared but she wasn’t terrified!!  Or, at least, she didn’t sound it.”

“tori’s been through a lot,” the shorter skeleton comments. “it’ll take more than a couple of bloody goat pieces to really _get her goat_.”

“Sans please!!!  Our friend has been through a traumatic even, now is not time for your puns!” Papyrus huffs, dragging you a bit closer to him.

“c’mon pap, i’m only _kiddin_ around,” Sans smirks and you can’t help the snort of laughter that escapes you.

“C’mon guys, I need to talk to Allie.  You two can make _pun_ of each other later,” you giggle and Papyrus groans, playfully shoving you away from him.  “So yeah, I called Tori and let her know what was up.  Then the police came and interviewed me, which was slightly terrifying.  Are all police dudes so brash and unfeeling?”

“You must’ve gotten lucky,” Allie muses and you scoff.

“So, interview happened, I walk out, and these two _boneheads_ were getting blocked off by a knucklehead police dude.  Wouldn’t let my favorite skeletons in,” you glance around you to notice both brothers whose cheekbones are graced with a cute cyan blue and pastel orange, respectively.  Neither makes a comment about the pun and you think it’s just adorable.  “Turns out after I called Tori, she texted them and they came right over to make sure I was okay.  So that was really sweet of them, and I really appreciate it.”

“Aww,” you hear her coo over the line.  “Well you tell them that I’m very thankful for coming to you in your time of need.”

“Will do.  The boys are even walking me home and staying a while!  How gentlemanly!”

“Ooh!  Maybe you can get some good snuggle time with Sans and then maybe-“

“SANS IS RIGHT HERE THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!”

“Oooh yeah, that’s right.  Hey Sans, ______ totally wants to-”

“WHOOPS MY PHONE IS DYING GOTTA TURN IT OFF BYE ALLIE NICE TALKING TO YOU!!!!!!!!”

You don’t think your face has been redder in your entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a late night chapter, because I'm pretty sure this one is as long as it needs to get. Alternatively titled: Allie always knows how to make things better. Always.
> 
> Thank you all again for your amazing comments, kudos, bookmarks and everything <3 I love y'all to bits.
> 
> And as always, I am up for any kind of chat on tumblr at Thycora


	8. Sweet Dreams

You shoved your phone in your pocket, fuming with embarrassment and trying desperately to ignore the small chuckles from both Papyrus _and_ Sans.  Great.  You were sure that they’d both heard Allie and now you’d never hear the end of it.  You storm ahead in the direction of your home, ignoring Papyrus’ cries for you to slow down.  You feel your shoes stomp on the pavement, hard.  If you had the strength you’re pretty sure you’d be boring holes into the earth now.  It doesn’t take long for the lanky skeleton to catch up to you, holding his brother in one arm.

“______, wait for us!” he’s finally at your side and places his free hand on one of your shoulders.

Refusing to meet his gaze you look down and stop in your tracks, you can’t look him or Sans in the eye, eye-sockets?

“__-______, it’s fine, it’s fine,” the shorter skeleton is chuckling, being held around his waist by his brother.  It’s not the most comfortable position but he’s too lazy to care.  “we didn’t hear that much, promise.”

“Oh my god,” you slap a palm to your face and fight the urge to crumble on the sidewalk.  So they definitely heard something, but what?  You’re too afraid to ask.  After taking a couple of deep breaths you decide to continue walking.  “It’s just up the road,” you say. “Up a couple of blocks, turn onto a couple of streets.”

“You must enjoy a healthy regimen of exercise!” Papyrus beams at you, still holding Sans who is looking awful snug in his brother’s arm.  “Perhaps I could join you some mornings?”

“That would be super nice actually!  Hey, I know Tori said we all live in the same city, which is kind of awesome, but where exactly do you guys live?  I wouldn’t want you, like, going too far out of your way for me.”

“Nonsense!  We will always go out of our way to get in your way!  Wait, no, I mean, we will always want to come see you and hang out!!  Isn’t that right, Sans?”  He looks down at his brother who gives a simple ‘mhmm’, looking ready to fall asleep.  The tall skeleton shifts his brother from one arm to two so he can carry him more easily and Sans snuggles right up to his armored chest.

 “See?  Problem solved!  Now, let us continue to your house!  I must make you my complimentary spaghetti after such a terrible plight!”

The last bit of your walk is spent telling Papyrus about how you spend all your walks, which is pretty uneventful in and of itself.  But he’s happy to hear about every little thing you enjoy on your walks, like the Pac-man tree.  The large tree had grown so close to the phone wires that the city had to cut away the branches that were dangerously close and gave it a Pac-man appearance.  With Allie still fresh in your mind from your embarrassment, you’d stopped to take a quick selfie with the bros.  You figured you’d send it to her as an apology.  She’d sent you a couple of texts apologizing for embarrassing you and promised not to do it again … if the skeleton brother’s weren’t in earshot.

Sans had apparently fallen asleep at this point, one hand raised to clutch his brother’s scarf ever so tightly.  Both you and Papyrus thought it was extremely endearing so you took another couple of snaps of Sans just snoozing away.  You use snapchat to take the photos, adding some ridiculous filters and send them off to Allie and Frisk.  Within minutes you get a response from Allie covering her mouth with her hand and laughing, captioned ‘omg sooooo cuuute’.  You figure Frisk is probably in school right now, so you assume they won’t respond till later.

Approaching your house feels weird, it’s a little after 9:30 at this point.  It feels way too early to be home but as you slide the keys from your bag you can’t really complain.  You take a step inside, crossing over the threshold and Papyrus follows.  Sans seems to notice the change in atmosphere, blinking a couple of times and comments, “nice house.”

“Ah, you’re awake!” You turn to smile at him, still being held by Pap.

“what makes you think i wasn’t?” he grins and a mortified expression crosses your face.

“Sans!  Don’t spook ______ like that!!  You were snoring and I heard you!”

“i don’t snore.”

“Yes, you do!!  It’s not a loud snore because you’re too lazy to snore in a loud manner but that’s fine.”

“pap if i snored i’m pretty sure i’d _nose_ about it.”

The tall skeleton lets out an agonized groan and promptly drops his chuckling brother.  He stomps over to your living room with a huff and you can’t help but laugh as you walk over to Sans and bend down.

“Are you okay?” You manage through a few giggles.  “That one was a stretch, you know.”

“guess you can call me _pinocchio_ now,” he grins, and it takes you a couple of seconds to get it before you start chuckling some more.

“Sans, you don’t even have a nose!” you chide and he just beams up at you.

“really?  you’re _snot_ kidding?  i never _nose_ ticed.”

“Sans!!!”

You can’t help another burst of laughter and offer your hand out to Sans.  He takes it and you pull both of you up together.  He’s surprisingly heavy for someone who is just bones, you’d think he’d be so lightweight.  The way his hand fits into yours you can tell this isn’t a human skeleton structure.  It’s similar, but more … thick.  _Thick is good,_ you decide as you settle back on your feet.  You remember a cute book from the library called _I, Jack_ and make a mental note to recommend it to Frisk.

You two walk into the living room where Papyrus has already made himself comfortable, flipping through the TV until he lands on a show with a sparkling black and pink robot.  You think you’ve seen him on TV a lot, in the news in general and ... just everywhere really now that you think of it.

The tall skeleton has noticed you and his brother entering and pats the couch cushions excitedly.  It’s just large enough to squeeze the three of you comfortably.  You end up between the two skeleton brothers and Papyrus chats on and on about the robot, his name was Meattuhtone, you guessed?  You weren’t really sure, all the events that transpired this morning were really exhausting.  From being happy to see Toriel and her children, to pure horror, to panic and terror, pain and guilt to endless tears and giggles … you’d fit in enough motions in a couple hours to count as a workout.  You felt your eyelids droop and you struggled to pay attention to the boisterous skeleton, mumbling ‘mhmms’ and nods before you nodded off to sleep.

You’re sitting at your desk in the library, there are children dancing all around you.  Most of them are little monster children, some are human.  A lot of the monster children look like characters you once drew when you were a child.  They happily tumble over and around your desk, knocking a few materials here and there but you can’t muster the energy to be mad at them.  You try to get them to settle but they still won’t listen.  Toriel hasn’t shown up yet and you wonder where she could be.  Kane passes you by, waving with the most insincere smile.  You pout at him and notice one of the children about to dive head-first into the trash can.

“No, no, don’t do that!  Trash cans aren’t for playing with!”  You scold the little child, a fluffy pale-green bunny with blue overalls.  The trashcan is made out of mesh wire and by now one of her buttons has gotten caught between them.  She giggles and wriggles about and you can only sigh in defeat.  When did children get so cute?

You scooch down to the child in the trashcan and start to work your fingers around the button, watching their bright red eyes gleam at you.  That’s funny, you didn’t notice before.  Their cute giggle distracts you and they squirm around again as you fiddle with their clothes to unhook them from the trashcan.

Just as you’re about to set the freed child down from the trashcan, you hear Frisk’s high squeaky voice ask you, “What’s in the box?”  And all the kids crowd around them, the small child fumbling it with their clumsy hands.

There is a huge brown box that they’ve just pulled down, you can see the dark red liquid dripping from it.  Everything starts happening in slow motion, you’ve just set the bunny child down but they’re already skirting around you to see what prized object Frisk is holding.  You fling out a hand to stop them but you can’t, you try to scream to warn Frisk but you voice is caught in your throat.  They open the lid, smiling wide to reveal Toriel’s severed head inside.  She’s bleeding and you start sobbing uncontrollably.

Toriel’s eyes lock onto you, bright amber that appears calm hiding a storm of anger.  The children turn to you, and through your tears you realize something terrible: they all have blood-red eyes.  Tears of blood start pooling down their faces, Frisk’s worst of all and you back away in horror, slamming into your desk.

“Child, I forgive you,” her tone is soft but you can hear the hate.  She hates you so fucking much.  “But why?  Why would you do this to me?  My children?”

It starts with the bunny you just rescued.  You see one ear flop to the floor, dabbled in blood, then the other.  Her paw falls off and her classmates begin to deteriorate as well.

“Why?  Why would you do this?  Why?”

You can’t tell who’s asking anymore and you’re curled up against your desk, screaming in terror.  You sobbed and cried for help, but nobody came.  Kane was gone, Tiana was gone, the library was abandoned it had been for years, why were you still here with these rotting corpses?  You had to get out of here, you had to leave now.  There was blood and dust seeping everywhere, Toriel’s eyes still boring into your soul.

You scrambled over your desk and fled, thankful that no one was following you.  You ran and ran with tears in your eyes, feet pounding away at the ground.  You soon realized you were running home, but you were afraid they’d find you there.  As you came across your Pac-man tree you realized you could climb to get away, the clouds would be your shelter.  Clouds can’t hurt you.  They’ve always protected you.

Scaling the tree is easy, you find yourself climbing above the forest, higher and higher.  Branches pass under your feet swift like a stream and as you get closer to the clouds you find your spirits lifting.  You don’t have to think about anything you don’t want to up here.

Once you arrive at the top you take a moment to observe the clouds.  You see the cirrus and stratus clouds all slowly scooting by to say hello.  You wave back and smile, the clouds have always been so friendly.  A fuzzy cumulus is taking its time to saunter across the sky and you decide that this is the cloud you shall rest on.  You wave it down, calling out a friendly hello and it jiggles back a hello in response.  So polite, as always.  You don’t know what you’d do without your clouds.

After a quick hop, skip and a jump you find yourself standing on top of the cumulus cloud.  It gives a wispy hum, waiting for you to lay down and hold you close.  It can tell you’ve been having a bad time, you can feel the sympathy radiating from it.  You snuggled down deep into its puffy lumps and felt it drape a part of itself over you, like a blanket.  You clutched the blanket tighter, mumbling a thank you and taking in its rainy scent.  In a gentle voice the cloud asked you if you could tell it what had happened earlier that sent you up here, and with great reluctance you told.  You admitted to it you were scared of the bloody children and Toriel’s head following you, asking ‘Why?  Why?  Why?’ but it assured you that would never happen.  The cumulus cloud was very sorry for what had happened and made sure to keep a good distance away from the trees so no one else could leap up onto it.  Nestled deep in the cloud you began to relax, closing your eyes and relishing in the warm comfort of your friend.

Things were peaceful as you floated on your cumulus cloud above the forest.  You were still too tired to open your eyes so you let the cloud tell you about what it saw.  The trees below you were in every shade of green you could ever imagine, healthy and brimming with energy.  Birds sang below, fawns dozed with their mothers and squirrels chittered around each other endlessly.  Life was perfect in the forest, calm and peaceful.  But you didn’t want to go down there just yet, you were enjoying your time in the clouds.

Alas, it was not meant to be.  The sounds of the city were starting to creep in, you could hear a faint bustling and buzzing around.  An alarm sounded off in the distance and you’re pretty sure you heard some form of shrieking.  Grumbling you held your eyes closed, willing the noise to go away so you could rest peacefully.  The cumulus cloud you were resting on seemed a bit agitated as well, it wanted to go help.

“mmnnno,” you mumbled, nuzzling closer into its softness.  “stay.”

You could feel the cloud jiggling with laughter beneath you and it tried again, insisting that it should at least see what the problem was.

“nooooo,” you quietly protested, clutching to its fluffy body.

It hummed underneath you, a pleasant hum, and agreed to continue to soar over the noise.  It seemed to be growing more and more distant and you eased back into your cushiony friend with a content sigh.  You could hear soft voices in the distance, the sound of friends laughing together quietly.  As you continued too drift over the city you think you started to recognize the voice.  There was a warm voice, sweet like honey, a louder one that was brash and bold with all the cheer of a marching band.  There were another two in the distance, one strong like a waterfall and the other timid like a mouse.  You frowned, it occurred to you that one voice was missing …

You woke up.  Your eyes were bleary from sleep and your fingers were clutching tightly to your blanket … wait, this wasn’t your blanket.

“good afternoon sleeping beauty,” rumbled a soft voice above you and you looked up to see Sans directly above you.  “sleep well?”

It took you a moment to register that you were in fact clinging to Sans and his soft blue hoodie, your head resting on his chest.  His right hand was pinned under your left hand, yours clutching to his like your life depended on it.  With a startled gasp and a splutter of apologies you leapt off of Sans and the couch, desperately trying to keep your cool.  “I’m so sorry, I’m so fucking sorry, I-I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I don’t normally do this, I didn’t-”

“it’s fine, it’s totally fine,” Sans laughs, you can tell he’s been enjoying this from the start.  He pauses to tilt his head down and gives you a sultry look, “but if i’d known you wanted to jump my bones i’d have come over sooner.”

Your face lights up a beautiful shade of rose red and you slap your palms to your face, not wanting anyone to see you.  So now you’re just standing there, half hunched over and Sans having himself a grand ol’ chuckle on your couch.  You’re too embarrassed to move and just stand there, hoping a black hole will come up from your carpet and just swallow you whole.

“Book nerd!!  You’re finally awake!” a strong arm slaps your back and you have to gasp for air as the wind is knocked out of you.

“U-Undyne?” You wheeze, putting your hands down and turning to your right to see the tall fish monster.

“Hell yeah!!  Paps texted us about what happened like an hour ago so Alph and I came over to see if you were okay.” She pauses to waggle her eyebrow, “But from the looks of it, you were doing more than fine, if you know what I mean.”

“Nnnnoooooo,” your hands return to your face and you try to crumple away from her but she just laughs and pulls you closer.

“I’m kidding, nerd!!  Seriously though, you looked super comfy.  Well, like, after we arrived I guess.  Sans said you kept twitching in your sleep?  You looked super scared, you okay?”

“well i was gonna let her _sleep_ on it but all right then.” Sans huffs, still not moving from off the couch.  You avert your gaze from either of them and look down.  Damn it, you didn’t want to tell them about the constant bad dreams you had.  They were too new to you, they’d run away, just like everyone else and call you a freak …

“was it that bad?” His voice was filled with sudden concern and as you glanced up you saw Sans rising off the couch to come over.

“You can tell us, no judging,” Undyne promised, giving your shoulder a strong squeeze.  “One time, I had this nightmare about Mew Mew Kissy Cutie.  I turned into the villain somehow!  I was hurting Alphys and I couldn’t stop.  Hah, I cried like a total dweeb.”

“I-it was just a bad dream, nothing major,” you really don’t feel like explaining your subconscious right now.  “It ended nicely, I mean … it, uh, wasn’t totally bad.”

Sans smiles and now you know you’re digging yourself further in your own grave.  “so is that why you didn’t want me getting up to check on paps?”

“I said I was sorry!!” You look down at your shoes and Undyne just howls with laughter.  You give an indignant huff and declare, “I’m going to the bathroom!”

Sans watches as you storm off, noticing the cute way your curl and uncurl your fists.  He sees you take a sharp turn to the left and a door slam announces your full presence in the house.  He chuckles, hesitating to move when the smoke alarm and Papyrus’ screeching goes off again.  Sans knew he shouldn’t have looked, he was just curious and he had to know if you’d ever done anything to attract the kind of horrid attention you’d gotten today.

You have a LV of 1, just as any good human should.  And that should have been the end of it, until Sans noticed something terribly wrong with your EXP.

It kept flickering between 0 and 5.

EXP didn’t flicker.  It didn’t move up and down on its own, you had to kill someone to gain EXP.  And then it remained stagnant until you did so again.  So why was yours unstable?  What did you do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy snugs? I hope you enjoyed snugs, even if we weren't all there to bask in them. Sans is a good cloud puff to snuggle with.
> 
> It was fun writing this chapter, I actually legitimately experience dreams like this on a regular basis and I have about as much control in my own dreams as I showed here. So this is getting really self-inserty but haha.
> 
> And EXP ... hmm hmm hmm what do we have here? :3c Something must have gone terribly wrong ... I admit I had reservations about including that bit into the chapter, and dealing with EXP in the way that I am does somewhat contradict canon, I am taking certain liberties in interpreting it ... but you'll understand better once we get to Strike Three, whenever that is. :p
> 
> Toodles, love you all! Thanks many for all comments, bookmarks, subs, and hits yall are amazing and I love <3 Feel free to chat me on tumblr at [Thycora](https://thycora.tumblr.com/)


	9. A Nice Lunch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that took so long guys! I could not think of a nice way to wrap up the ending. But I figured it out, so here you go! Enjoy, it's a bit longer than usual x3

After taking a few moments to scrub the embarrassment from your face, you decided you were calm enough to step out of your bathroom.  Walking back through your hallway and into the living room, you noted that things were still pretty much the same as you left them.  Sans was still lazing on the couch, Undyne was standing in front of the TV telling a very dramatic story with wide hand waves and arm flails.  The tall fish woman didn’t seem to notice you, and the poor skeleton looked like he was having the hardest time concentrating and not falling asleep on her grand story.  You remembered him saying something earlier about Papyrus, concluding that the taller brother must be in the kitchen.  You give Sans a justified smirk and the pin-pricks of lights that serve for pupils narrow at you.  He starts to turn his head and say something when Undyne screeches his name and snaps him back to attention.  Hiding a giggle behind your hand, you make your way to the kitchen to investigate the loud clattering that woke you from your peaceful slumber.

“Now, Papyrus dear, it really isn’t so necessary for you to stir so vigorously -”

“Oh but Toriel!  Undyne says that’s how you get all the flavor!!”

“Well, not quite but -”

With a resounding clang and a splat, you walked into your kitchen to see Papyrus flinging a spoon around and splattering poor Toriel with some of the marinara sauce.  You held back a gasp as you watched the red sauce splatter around her face.  The goat woman is shocked for only half a second before erupting into giggles and the skeleton sheepishly apologizes.  The image of Toriel’s bloody severed head is still fresh in your mind and this didn’t help any, but you’ll be damned if you let them know what happened.  It’s just a nightmare, it’s not real.  You swallow and take a deep breath, forcing yourself to be calm.

Deciding you really didn’t want to stare at Toriel as she cleaned her fur and gently admonished Papyrus, you looked to the kitchen block that Alphys was sitting next to, using a stool.  Her elbows were propped up on the wooden block and her scrunchy nose was buried in her phone, franticly typing away.  You forced a small cough to grab her attention and she startled, phone clacking to the block. 

“Sorry,” you held back a giggle.

“I-It’s fine,” she gave a shy smile and you smiled back.  Her yellow claws curled around her phone but her attention remained on you. “Have a good nap?”

“Uh, yeah,” you could feel your face flush and avoided her gaze. “It, uh, ended well at least.”

“I could tell.” Her sudden confidence surprised you and you raised an eyebrow at her.  She in turn wagged her eyebrows right back at you, dorky grin wide as she toyed with her phone in her hands.

Your jaw dropped in realization, “No.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t worry, dear, those pictures are staying with us.” Toriel smiled, giving you a wink and Papyrus nyeh’d quietly.

“Nooooooo,” you whimpered, eliciting more chuckles from your friends and you crouched down to burry your face in your face in your knees.  After a few moments of mourning your dignity you felt a soft paw thump on your back.

“Forgive us, ______.  We just thought you looked very peaceful with Sans there.  If it makes you feel better he was asleep as well when we took pictures.”

“Wait, _Sans_ was asleep?!”  Now you’re even more embarrassed.

“My brother does love to sleep,” Papyrus interjected, giving a pointed swish of the spoon.

Toriel guides you to a standing position with a last giggle.  You mumble a thanks and decide that your shoes are very interesting right now.  There’s an extra scuff on the right toe of your shoe, you really ought to clean that up.  Oh, and there’s some dirt on the floor, you probably tracked that in.  Should’ve remembered to take your shoes off at the door, oops.

“W-well I took a c-couple when the smoke alarm went off, and you w-wouldn’t let Sans get up.” Alphys admits and you shoot up immediately.  “It was k-kinda really cute.”

You’re not sure which is redder, the sauce or your face.  Toriel wraps her arm around your shoulders and gives a hearty laugh, Papyrus hardly resisting the temptation to join in, and Alphys can barely console you with promises to send you the photos and never to post them online.

“Papyrus, dear, how much longer do you think until you’re ready to serve?” Toriel asks with a kind smile, folding her arms over her waist.

“Just a few more minutes, Toriel!” He chimes, and you don’t think you’ve ever seen Papyrus more proud.  When is that skeleton not proud?

“Wonderful!” She turns to you with a sweet motherly look in her amber eyes. “______, why don’t you go sit down at the dining table? Alphys and I can set it while you wait.  Perhaps I could call in Undyne too.”

You glance back into the living room to see the tall fish woman still bouncing up and down with excitement, one arm nearly devastating a lamp.  For someone so purportedly lazy, Sans moves it awfully quickly out of Undyne’s way with a swift hand.  You wonder where he learned to move so fast and are also unsure about Undyne’s ability to be delicate with your dishes.

“… Perhaps not Undyne; she seems far too invested in her story.” Toriel hums and you nod.

“You don’t have to do that all though,” you say as you begin to walk to the dish cabinet.  “I’d be a terrible house guest if I made you guys do all the work.  I can’t thank Papyrus enough for making us lunch.”

You flash him a thankful smile and he smiles back, “Nonsense!  It is my pleasure, and as your friend I absolutely insist on making my deliciously crafted spaghetti!”

“You also got quiet the, uh, surprise at work today,” Toriel reminds you gently. “You should rest.  Please, take a seat.”

“Y-yeah, it’s the least I c-can do after embarrassing you.” Alphys giggles and hops down from the stool she was using.

The tall goat mother fixes you with a kind stare and it’s very clear you’re not going to win this battle.  You sigh and give a good-natured shrug, “Well, all right then.  I’m not sure I can handle all this resting though!  My boss gave me the whole week off because of this, and it’s only Tuesday!  I’m gonna be so bored.”

“Oh, I have the day off tomorrow!” The small lizard woman replies, scooting over to walk next to you.  “W-we could hang out, i-if you wanted.”

“That actually sounds really nice!” You smile down at her and she smiles back.  You’d been meaning to spend more time with your monster friends, you guessed this was as good an opportunity as any.  She squeaks with delight and you give her a smirk, “This is a ploy to get me to watch Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, isn’t it?”

Her scales turn a cute shade of pink and she ducks her head, “W-we don’t have to watch that if you don’t want to … but I r-really would like to …”

“I’m just teasing, Alphys.  Of course I’d love to watch Mew Mew Kissy Cutie with you!”  You reach down to give her an assuring pat on the back and she immediately straightens up with a smile.

“Thanks.  You’re going to love it, I p-promise!”

“No prob.”

Toriel is still behind you, fishing out the appropriate plates for Papyrus’ spaghetti form the cabinet.  You take a seat at one end of the table, not wanting to pressure any of your new friends to sit next to you or take sides or anything.  You probably shouldn’t be even worried about little things like this, but you can’t help it.

Alphys is taking the plates from Toriel two at a time, setting six places in total.  You don’t have quite enough chairs since you’re used to only serving four people at most so you convince the tall goat woman that you need to go fetch more chairs and you’re the only one who knows where they are.  Undyne catches wind that furniture moving is happening and she’s more than happy to show off her muscles.  Your spare chairs aren’t really that heavy, they’re just simple wooden ones but she doesn’t care.  Alphys had followed you and Undyne, giving her girlfriend many reminders not to suplex the chairs.  The tall fish woman scoffs, saying that she knows better and will handle the chairs with utmost delicacy.  You walk through the living room to get to your spare room where you store extra things like chairs and notice a wicked grin on Sans’s face as you pass him.

“hey al.  bet you five she breaks one.  at least a little.” Sans calls from the living room and you can’t help but face palm as Undyne gives an indignant roar and Alphys tries to calm her down.

“I-I-I’ll bet you ten she won’t!!” You don’t think you’ve ever seen Alphys more flustered and you have to fight back the laughter.

Without warning, Undyne reaches around you to grab one of your chairs from the spare room and swings it over her head with a mighty “NGGAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”  She barely misses a ceiling lamp and you suddenly regret allowing Undyne to help and now fear for your furniture (and your safety).  You also make a mental note to rag on Sans for egging her on.  You watch the fish warrior stomp out of the room, each foot landing a decisive blow to the carpet and now you’re hoping those impressions are just temporary.  Stealing a glance back at the remaining chair you decide it’s best not to give Undyne the opportunity to ‘help’ with that one either.  You grab it and dart after Undyne and Alphys, praying that nothing got smashed along the way.

Surprisingly, the chair makes it safely to the table and nothing was broken.  Undyne sets down the chair with the most grace you’ve ever seen her use.  Alphys gives her girlfriend a victory smooch and immediately runs over to Sans, demanding he pay up.  The short skeleton pretends to be asleep, but Alphys is having none of it.

“I kn-know you’re awake, Sans.  A b-bet’s a bet, give me that ten!”

“can’t.  mmasleep.”

You can’t help but giggle, watching from the doorway with excitement.  Alphys seems to be pulling something from her back pocket, you can’t quite make out what it is.  The fish woman seems to know, immediately slapping a hand to her mouth to cover any giggles.  Sans’ eyes are still closed, blissfully unaware of the impending doom as Alphys raises a shaky hand holding what looks like a mini-spray bottle.  _What is she doing with that?  Is squirting him seriously going to do anything?_ You’re skeptical but eager to see how this plays out.  It is clear that she is very determined to get her ten as the bottle closes the gap between her and Sans’ face and then you realize: she’s pointed it directly at his nose hole.

_Phsst phsst._

And two squirts directly into the skull is all it takes to send Sans forward, coughing and spluttering.  A strong hand slaps your back as its owner roars with laughter, and you’re too busy laughing yourself to even think to reprimand her.  Sans is scowling and Alphys is cackling as he viciously shakes his head and starts clawing around his nose hole.

“jesus fucking christ alphys.” he snorts, a few water droplets shake out.

“Give me my t-ten.” Alphys is clearly not budging on the subject, no matter what her stutter says.  You admire that, and make a mental note to tell her later.

With a sigh Sans swipes a boney arm over his face one last time and then reaches to his side to pull out a wallet.  He’s got that silly smile on again, he might even be impressed with her.  You notice that she hasn’t flinched since pulling the trigger and she looks rather accomplished himself.

“there’s your ten.  happy?” He slaps two fives into her claws which immediately curl around them.

“Very.” She is the embodiment of confidence right now.

“Spaghetti is ready!!!” Papyrus calls from the kitchen and you turn around to see that Toriel has finished getting out all the glasses for everyone, including silverware and a healthy stack of napkins.  Everyone has already been served their spaghetti and Papyrus looks ready to bounce off the walls if you don’t corral everyone to come and sit.  So the four of you walk over to the dining table, Sans taking a seat next to Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys sitting next to each other while you and Toriel each end up on opposite ends of the table.  You realize that Alphys is on your left and Sans is on your right; you try not to think of the nap you accidentally took on him and hope it won’t make things more awkward.

“Looks good, Papyrus!” You smile, eagerly grabbing at your fork to dig in.

“Thank you, ______!  The Great Papyrus only makes the Greatest Spaghetti after all!” Papyrus is brimming with confidence and takes a moment to flick his scarf over his shoulder, which manages to billow in the wind … somehow.  Maybe there was a draft?

“Haha, always!” You smile, his enthusiasm is too charming.

“I taughf him haow to makk it,” Undyne says through a mouthful of spaghetti.  There are noodles and sauce slipping all around her sharp teeth, and in all honestly she looks incredibly ridiculous.  You try to hide a laugh by sticking a forkful of spaghetti in your mouth but it doesn’t work too well.

“Undyne, don’t talk through your mouth dear.” Toriel chides gently, taking a small dainty bite herself.

The fish monster rolls her eyes and swallows, grumbling something too low for you to hear.  She’s closer to Toriel’s end, and you can tell from the glare Tori shoots her that it wasn’t a nice comment.  After taking another gulp of spaghetti - this is really good! - you decide to break the tension, “So, Papyrus, Undyne taught you to cook?  This is really good!”

“Why, thank you!!  It was all part of my training to become a royal guard!”

“Royal guard?”

“Yes!  Undyne was the captain of the royal guard, serving under Asgore!  Didn’t she ever tell you?” He blinked, curious.

“Uh, no … guess it never came up,” you shrug, casting a glace in the fish monster’s direction.  She’s too busy shoving food down her face and you have to giggle.  Papyrus is more than happy to answer for her and carry on out all her great exploits.

“The royal guard was our special army in the Underground under King Asgore!  Undyne was the captain, she’s one of the few people who could actually defeat Asgore!!  Undyne was always personally training me to become a part of the royal guard!!  She can suplex so many boulders, you should show ______ sometime, Undyne!!”

“Ahh, thanks, but I’ll pass,” your glance nervously at Undyne, and she seems to be listening now.  Uh oh, you hope she isn’t mad. “N-not that I wouldn’t be impressed or anything!  I just wouldn’t want to get in your way!  Boulders must be pretty, heh, heavy and dangerous …”

“Afraid, nerd?!” Undyne is grinning like a mad-woman, her sharp teeth dripping with marinara sauce and she no longer looks ridiculous.  No, she looks terrifying.  “I’ll bet I could suplex ONE MILLION BOULDERS AND YOU!!!  AT THE SAME TIME!!”

“U-Undyne maybe you shouldn’t-”

“TWO MILLION-”

“Undyne!” Toriel’s sharp voice cuts off the fish woman long enough for her to see your face starting to pale.  Your jaw is dropped and eyes fixed wide on her, a forkful of spaghetti dangling neatly in front of you.  Sans is at your right and his quiet attempts to hid snickers end in failure, while Undyne burst out laughing.  You suddenly realize your mouth is hanging open and immediately snap it shut, feeling a flush of heat rise to your cheeks.  You are making such a good impression on your friends.  Such a good impression.

“don’t worry,” Sans seems to sense your nervousness.  “she won’t hurt you.  undyne’s all bark and no bite.”

“I am not!!” She shouts, fists pounding on the table.  You vaguely wonder that if she breaks this furniture it ruins the bet and Sans gets his ten back.

“Not unless you give her a reason to.”

The room falls silent and all eyes go to Alphys.  It takes her a second to realize she said that and quickly cries, “I-I-I wasn’t sup-up-posed to s-s-s-ay that out loud-d-d-d!!” 

She gives a squeak of embarrassment and immediately hides her now-pink face behind cute stubby claws.  Undyne starts roaring with laughter and you soon join in despite yourself.  Toriel manages to keep it to a quiet snicker and you can hear the two skeletons clacking with muffled giggles.  The broad fish woman has her girlfriend wrapped in her arms, shrieking in her ear how much she loved her and had _no idea she was into that, and she could do it anytime she asked._

“Undyne, please,” The goat woman chuckles. “We are guests at ______’s house, let us have _polite_ conversation at the dinner table.”

“Buzzkill,” Undyne grumbles, shoving another forkful of spaghetti in her mouth.  She leaves a hand on her girlfriend’s back, and you find this very endearing.  You try not to be too jealous of their relationship, they are really sweet on each other.

 “So, ah, how did you guys meet Frisk?”

Toriel wipes a napkin with her mouth before beginning, “Well, we all met Frisk when they fell into the underground …”

And so your five friends weaved you the tale of Frisks adventures, from the warm cozy Ruins with Toriel to Snowdin with the skeleton brothers and their silly antics.  In Waterfall where Undyne challenged them to battle, and eventually befriended them after burning her house down (you decided you’d never let Undyne touch your stove).  To Hotland, where Alphys explained in great detail how Frisk had charmed their way through Mettaton’s various safe and adorable shows.  Then finally to the capital, where King Asgore resided.  A battle was going to take place, and Frisk would have had to do something terrible in order to come home …

“… We met them back at Asgore’s castle, all five of us.” Toriel finished. “In order to cross the barrier, Frisk would have had to do … regrettable things.  So we came to support them, to stop them.  It seems there was hardly a need though, they never wanted to hurt a single soul in the first place.”

You heard Sans take a sharp intake of breath as Papyrus continued, “It was the strangest phenomenon!  There was a bright flash of light, and we were all knocked out.  When we woke up, Frisk was still asleep!  But the barrier was also broken!!  It was truly the most amazing miracle!”

“the kid really became the light of our lives,” Sans grins and collective groans and giggles circle the table.

“That’s pretty amazing!” You scooped the last bit of spaghetti you had from your plate to your fork.  “So … they just took out the barrier?  All by themselves?”

“They were very determined,” Toriel hummed. “They wanted to go home … with all of us apparently.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” You cooed and even Undyne couldn’t help a tiny blush.

By now everyone’s plate is bare an Toriel insists on everyone having at least one slice of her cinnamon-butterscotch pie.  She apparently keeps a couple in reserve in her house at all times and brought one over.  You’re more than happy to try out her famous pie, and it’s delicious!  It tastes warm and sweet, like home.  A good comforting home with friends and family, you haven’t known that feeling for a while now.

“So, book nerd!” Undyne speaks up after scarfing down her last bite of pie.

“Hehe, yes?” You can’t help the bemused smile on your face.

“Pap mentioned earlier that you walk every morning to work.  But now you can’t because of, uh, stuff.  Papyrus and I do morning jogs though!! You wanna join?”

“I’d love to Undyne!  Wouldn’t want to get lazy now." You shoot Sans a playful look and he pretends to look offended.  You smile and turn back to Undyne, "What time?”

“Oh, we always go out jogging at six!!” Papyrus interjected, his smile broadening. “I can’t get Undyne to wake up any earlier, or we would go at four! Maybe five if I’m feeling tired.”

You can’t help but balk, “Papyrus that is way too early!!”

“Aww, not you too!” He deflates a little and Undyne and Sans start snickering in the background.  You bite your lip and do your quickest to back pedal.

“Sorry Paps, I need like at least 8-9 hours of sleep per night to function.  Four or five is too early, but I can be ready at six-thirty?  How does that sound?”

“Wonderful!!!” You are suddenly bombarded by slender and strong bones.  The big dork didn’t even have to take two steps to surround you in a huge hug. 

“Anytime.” You smile and hug him back, giving him a couple of pats.  You pull back from the hug and think of something, frowning. “Wait, don’t you guys all have work to do or something?”

“I have the rest of the day off dear,” Toriel reminds you gently. “Though I must pick up Frisk around three-thirty.”

“Papyrus called us and wouldn’t stop being a HUGE WEENIE about it until we came over to see you,” the tall fish monster laughs.

“He d-did say it was an emergency,” Alphys chuckled. “I wasn’t doing much at the lab anyways, so I clocked out early.”

“But I have the day off though,” Undyne added. “This was my day to relax and then YOU had to get a freaking … what even was it, a threat??  Disembodied bloody goat parts??” She starts howling with laughter until Papyrus fixes her with a stern stare.

“Undyne!!  That’s not fair to ______!  She didn’t ask for that horrible thing to happen.” He pouted.  God he was adorable when he did that.

“Dude I’m just teasing, lighten up,” she shrugged.

“it’s all right paps, don’t let undyne get your _goat_.” Sans snickered and everyone but you and Toriel groaned at the pun.  Toriel gave a most ungracious snort before descending into laughter and you couldn’t help but follow.

It took a little bit but everyone eventually cleared out for the day after you reassured them over and over again that yes, you were fine.  No you weren’t going to have a panic attack and they didn’t need to stick around.  Honestly you needed some alone time, you weren’t used to being around so many people for such a long amount of time!  You did enjoy their company, but you were getting a little drained from being around them all.  You must have promised to Papyrus and Undyne (mostly Papyrus) about twenty times that yes you would be waiting outside your door at 6:30 to go jogging with them and you would not forget.  You went so far as to set an alarm, just to be doubly extra sure.

By the time everyone had left your house it was about 3:30.  You flipped on the TV, it was one of Mettaton’s shows you think.  Alphys had talked about him some, Papyrus was definitely one of his adoring fans.  Undyne and Sans didn’t seem to think too much of the machine monster, but he seemed pretty okay to you on stage, if a bit cringe worthy.  Soon you were lulled back to sleep on your couch, your day coming to a peaceful end.

Until Allie got off from work, used her spare key and burst through the door, “______ HOLY FUCK!”

You groaned.  Time for round two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's it!! As always I am reachable on tumblr at [Thycora](https://thycora.tumblr.com/) if you ever want to talk and stuff.


	10. Mew Mew Kissy Feelies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allie confronts you, you go jogging with Papy and Undyne, and then marathon Mew Mew Kissy Cutie with Alphys

Allie had shown up at about 5:30 and demanded you tell her everything in excruciating detail.  She and Papyrus had been texting non-stop apparently.  Allie had explained to Papyrus about your anxiety about being around a large group of people he had apparently been worried that you were too overwhelmed the whole time, it was taking every fiber of his being not to hover over you or frantically text you once he and the group left.  You scolded Allie for worrying that poor skeleton and shot him a quick text saying that you were fine, Allie had explained everything to you and there was nothing to worry about.

At that very moment, of course, Alphys had decided it would be a great time to send you those pictures she took.  Your screen lit up immediately and your friend scooched closer, looming over you.

“Sooooo, what are thooooooose?” She asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

“I-It’s nothing, really!  Just some dumb pics.” You said, trying to maneuver your phone into your pocket. 

“Oh my gosh you’re getting pics?  Lemme see!!! Are there any hot bods?”

“Allie!!”

And before you could protest even further the blonde had swiped your phone away from you and brought up the photos.  Your weak protests fell on deaf ears as she squealed with delight, “You were _sleeping_ with _SANS?!_ ”

“It’s not like that!!! Allie give it back!!!!” Her laughter, while cute, was only embarrassing you more.  And did she seriously have to word it like that?!

“Oh come on, I’m only teasing,” she sticks her tongue out at you and gives another giggle. “I just want a little peak.  Please?”

You scowl, “Hand it over.”

“Aww you’re no-ohmigosh!”

“What, what is it?”

“There’s a video?!!” Her face is lit up with unending glee as you went slack jawed.

“What?!  Alphys never said anything about a video!!”

“I’m gonna play it!!!”

“Allie no!!”

If you were being perfectly honest with yourself, you weren’t that against seeing the video right away, and it probably wouldn’t hurt to have Allie see it either.  It did have you kinda curious.  Did you talk in your sleep?  You’d never been sure; you’d woken up screaming a couple of times but that was months ago.  Without further ado, the blonde pressed play and the video started.

You were sitting snuggled up to Sans, fast asleep as was he.  You heard Alphys whisper, “Oh my god that’s so kawaii!” The camera shook a little as she giggled with glee, you and Sans blissfully unaware.  “Nerds.” Undyne murmured and you could hear the grin on her face.  Sans’ skull was laying on top of your head, yours nested perfectly against his shoulder.  Your right arm had looped over his front and … okay you had to admit, that was pretty damn cute.

Suddenly a blaring alarm went off and Sans jolted awake, eye sockets snapping open with no lights inside.  You meanwhile were out like a light, clinging to him tighter and nuzzling your head on his chest.  Sans seemed confused and scared for a moment, looking down and then his expression softened.  You could hear Alphys and Undyne snickering in the background and the skeleton gave them a good natured glare.

You heard Toriel’s voice from the distance, “Papyrus I told you to tur-”

The video ended at that point, you assumed Alphys wanted to stop recording once Sans woke up.  It wasn’t much fun to record people once they knew you were recording them.  But damn if that wasn’t the sweetest video of you you’d seen in a long while.  For a moment you too enraptured by the adorableness of you curling up to Sans that you didn’t feel the heat on your cheeks or hear Allie’s tiny “eeeeeeeeeee” right by your side.

However, once Allie leapt at you for a giant hug you were quickly snapped out of your daze. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!!!!!!!  _You??!!!!_ And _Sans??!?!?!?!!!_   I was totally joking the other day but this could definitely work I’m so proud a you!!!!!!!”

Ah, yes, there it was.  That familiar burning sensation all over your face.  You had to be lit up like a Christmas tree as your internal screaming took over any thought process you were going to have.  Your friend only laughed more, burying her face in the crook of your neck and squealing over and over again about how proud she was of you.

“Allie.  Please.” You manage to wriggle free of her grasp and fix her with a scowl.  “It was an accident; I was really fucking tired after my panic attack.  I’m not … I’m not interested in him.  Besides … I’m a human.  What kind of monster like him would want to hook up with a human like me?”

Allie gives a snort and pouts, “Oh no, we’re not doing this self-deprecating bullshit again.”

“But Allie-”

“No!  Come on you were doing so well, you still are!  Just trust me on this one.”

You thought back for a moment and looked down at your knees.  You supposed there might have been a little fondness there but …

“Hey. ______.  Look at me.  I know you got scared today.  You had a panic attack, hell, I would have!!  What kind of fuck sends someone bloody goat parts?  Shit like this seems like the perfect excuse to be alone and not get involved with anyone, ‘cause you’ll just get hurt …” She takes your hands in hers. “But you can’t let that fear take over you.  I’m seriously thinking there might be something there, no teasing this time.  Cross my heart.  You don’t have to jump to any conclusions or rush into anything you don’t want but please,” Allie squeezes your hands and looks deep into your eyes. “ _Please_ give love a chance.  Please.”

You sat quietly for a moment, dropping her gaze.  You looked down at your hands, still folded neatly between Allie’s.  Her grip was firm but not painful. You let out a heavy sigh.

“Anyone could look at anyone like that,” You huff, much to her annoyance.  “But … maybe it’s worth checking out?”

“That’s the spirit!”

________________

You woke up to your alarm at six, just enough time to slip on some running clothes, put on some deodorant, and scramble for a quick bit of bread and peanut butter.  Your pills had been hidden away in the corner of the kitchen and you silently cursed yourself for not hiding them yesterday when you got in with your friends.  What it Papyrus and Toriel had seen them?  Would they think less of you just because you couldn’t control your damn tears like a normal person?

Scowling you fished out some orange juice and downed the pills before hiding them away in a cabinet behind some mugs.  There wasn’t a reason for them to know, or to care.  You were just some random human that happened to get swept up in some shit-

Sudden pounding at your door made you startle and jolt around.  It was 6:25, on the dot.  You groaned, that must be Papyrus and Undyne waiting for you.  Why was jogging so early in the morning a thing people did?  And why did you agree in the first place?  Too early.  Too early.  You crossed through the kitchen to the living room to your door and opened it, and you remembered why you agreed in the first place with a smile.  No one could resist Papyrus’ charm.

“Human!!” He declared with an excited flare and you couldn’t help but giggle. “Are you ready for our morning jog?!!!”

“Sure am Papyrus, where to?”

“Down to the park, then through the forest path and then to Alphys’ house!” Undyne grinned her most toothy grin yet. “You ready, nerd?”

“Oh I was born ready,” you laugh and soon the three of you are on your way.

________________

As it turned out, you were not born ready.  You weren’t remotely in the area of ready.  Ready was somewhere far, far away in the ever expanding distance to the point that you were almost out of breath halfway through the forest path.  Undyne and Papyrus were hardly phased but it was the skeleton who noticed your winded nature first and recommended that you all stop to rest a bit.  You apologized over and over again for not being as in shape as you thought you were and they laughed it off.

“Honestly I’m impressed you kept up with us this far,” Undyne grinned as she handed you a water from her pouch.  “Pap and I have been doing this routine for years!”

You nodded, taking a thankful sip.  You really needed to remember to bring water next time.  After a 15 minute break you decided you were ready to start jogging again with the two monsters leaps and bounds ahead of you.  It took almost a half hour to reach Alphys’ house and you were definitely exhausted by then.

Luckily the yellow dinosaur monster was waiting for the three of you with some much needed water and crackers.  After scarfing down what could barely be considered a meal, Undyne scooted out the door with a kiss goodbye to her girlfriend.  It was nearing 8 o’clock, and she had to be at work.  Papyrus went with her to be dropped back off at his house; he needed to make sure his lazybones brother Sans got up for work!  Soon it was just you and Alphys sitting in the quiet comfort of her home.

“S-so,” she started out. “Did you want to wa-watch Mew Mew Kissy Cutie or rest some more?  I know Undyne and Papyrus really l-love to run a lot, they tire me out too!”

“Let’s get started on Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!  You said there were five seasons?”

“And counting!!!  They made th-three movies too, but we won’t watch the second one.”

You paused to look at her with scrutiny, “Why not?  I thought you loved everything Mew Mew Kissy Cutie?”

“Oh my GOD. No.  N-no that is utter garbage no forget I said anything no.  Okay get comfy on the couch, I’m gonna start the first episode!!  You ready?” She flails her arms dramatically as she explains to you that the second movie is completely trash, her little tail thrashing all the while.  It’s rather cute you think.

“Hell yeah, let’s get this party started!” You give her a big grin, just like Undyne is always doing and she laughs.  These guys are really rubbing off on you.  “Oh, by the way, I wanted to mention to you that what you did to Sans was totally badass yesterday.”

Alphys is about to plop herself on the couch when she startles and nearly falls at your compliment.  You laugh and help her back up as she mumbles a thanks, “I-It was nothing.  I earned that ten!!”

“You did.  You were so determined to get it!!”

She freezes for a moment stares at the wall behind you, eyes glazed over.  For a moment you wonder if you said something wrong but she shakes her head.

“Haha, yeah, g-guess I was.  L-let’s start, o-okay?”

“Sure …” You wonder what set her off but think nothing more of it as the TV screen flickers to life.

There’s an anime girl running across the screen in a busy city, bread dangling cutely from her mouth as her school girl outfit swishes to and fro.  Your resist the temptation to let out a snort, she must be late for school.

“Kyaa!!!  I can’t believe I’m going to be late for school!! Again!! Ugh, why can I never wake up on time?” The poor girl from the TV whines in her thoughts and you can hardly hold back a giggle.  Alphys’ eyes are glued to the screen and you swear you can see little hearts dancing.  Okay, that’s adorable.  Your friends are all too adorable they need to stop that or there’ll be no adorable left for you!

“My name is Memi, but everyone calls me Mew Mew cause I keep getting into trouble, like the cats around the city.”

“They hate cats in this city,” Alphys says casually, reaching a hand into the bag of popcorn. “Some old culture thing, I can’t tell you why because spoilers.  But you’re gonna love this!!”

You hum and nod in agreement, watching the show unfold as you reach for a few kernels of popcorn yourself.  Memi is rushing along a sidewalk when a bright white cat bolts out in front of her, tripping her.

“Whaa!!!” Memi screams and is thrown to the ground, the cat barely glancing around to look at her.  Meime stares at it, “Pink eyes …”

The cat stops to stare at Memi longer, and Memi stares back.  With purpose the cat turns around and stalks towards her.

“Here it comes!!” Alphys grabs your shoulder excitedly, making you jump a little.

The cat bends its head down to observe Memi who hasn’t moved, still in awe of this cat so bravely approaching her.  The cat then moves forward and gives Memi a quick lick on the lip.

“There it is!!!!” Alphys is practically shrieking with delight and shakes you with all her excitement.  You laugh, struggling to keep your eyes on the TV.

“Alphys, I can’t see!!” You give her a gentle push and she blabbers a ‘sorry’, still too giddy to be remotely sorry and you smile.

Memi shrieks from the television and leaps up and away from the cat who simply stares beneath her.

“Wh-what the hell, you stupid cat?! B-baka!!  Shoo!  Get out of here!”

The cat scowled up at Memi, eyes narrowing, and trotted off into the street like nothing had ever happened.  Memi gasped, “Hey!! You dumb cat!! Watch out, you’re going to get hit!”

Just as a car was fast approaching the cat it stalled, the suddenly angry driver banging on the steering wheel.  The white cat turned back to Memi with a smirk on its lips and trotted happily to the other side and out of view.  Memi stepped back, watching in awe.

“Huh … what a strange cat …”

“Mew Mew!  Did you just kiss a cat?!”

“Hahaha, what a loser!”

“Mew Mew kisses kitties!!”

“Gross!  Eww!”

Ah yes, these must be the bullies you presumed.  Alphys’ tail thwumped on the couch at a steady pace, almost like a dog wagging its tail.  You smiled and settled back into the couch to continue watching the anime.

Mew Mew was naturally embarrassed and yelled at her bullies.  She was late to class, as expected, and it was boring, as expected.  And she wouldn’t stop scratching her head.  She complained it just felt too itchy and the teacher eventually sent her home when it was clearly interfering with her school work.

Exhausted and irritated, Mew Mew walked home and flumped pitifully onto her bed.  Eventually she fell asleep, dreaming of cats crossing roads of traffic by kissing the cars to bring them to a halt.  She dreamt of the bullies laughing at her and she would kiss them right on the lips!  Mew Mew would demand they do something ridiculous or go buy her a drink or something, and they would do it without protest.  She reveled in this idea, letting out a maniacal laugh or two.  When Mew Mew woke up to her alarm she realized she had sprouted a pair of cat ears!!

“Kyaaa!!! I can’t go to school like this!!! They’ll tease me more!!!”

Frantically the poor teenage girl searched around her room, eventually finding an old bandana and tired it firmly around her head.  The cat ears stayed under for about a second until popping back up in a rather adorable manner.  Infuriated, Mew Mew grabbed more bandanas, frantically tying them on her head in a neat little bonnet.  But the ears refused to stay down, springing back up and sending the fabric everywhere.

With a dramatic sigh Mew Mew fell onto her bed and thought ‘Guess I just have to stay in my room forever now.’

Hours ticked away, sunlight rotating throughout her room until it was the afternoon.  A school bell ringing could be heard in the distance.  ‘Well I guess school’s over.  Now I just have to worry about my parents …’ Mew Mew thought to herself and gave a deep sigh, choosing to wrap herself in blankets.

Suddenly there was a loud knocking on the door, accompanied by a cute girl’s voice, “Mew Mew-chan!!  Mew Mew-chan!!  Are you okay?  Mew Mew chan!!”

‘My friends!!  They can’t see me like this!!’ Mew Mew gasped and ducked her head under the blankets.

“Go away!”

“Mew Mew-chan, I’m gonna open the door!”

“No!! Don’t come in!!”

But it was too late, her friends had already burst into the room, the boldest girl leading the way.  She stormed over to Mew Mew while the two other girls followed closely behind and they each took a seat on her bed.

“Mew Mew-chan … come out, please?”

“No!  You’re gonna hate me …” She whimpered and curled in on herself.

“Mew Mew-chan we would never.  Please come out?”

With a defeated sigh Mew Mew gave in.  “Okay, but you have to promise not to hate me.  Or yell.”

“We promise!” The girls echoed, and slowly Mew Mew removed the blanket from covering her head. 

Her cat ears immediately sprang up to attention and her eyes watered.  Mew Mew’s voice quivered, “P-please don’t be mad …”

Her friends gasped in alarm, but then the smallest and most adorable one shot forward to pet the ears. “Oh my gosh they’re so fluffy!!  Ichigo-chan, come pet them!!”

“Hu-wah?!” Mew Mew was thoroughly baffled as her friends leaned over to stroke her ears, but quickly began purring at the soft contact.

Once Mew Mew regained her composure and her friends finally stopped petting her, she explained the situation with the cat, and her dream.  Her friends listened quietly, hanging onto every word.  Eventually the three came to a conclusion.

“Mew Mew-chan, we’re not gonna let anything bad happen to you!” Declared the small adorable girl.

“Buh-whah?”

“That’s right!  We’re gonna stick up for you!  Those cat ears are adorable!! And if anyone makes fun of you, I’ll beat them up!!” Boasted the largest one

“P-please don’t beat anyone up …” Whimpered the third girl, who had stayed mostly silent. “But we’ll support you, Mew Mew-chan!”

Mew Mew took a couple seconds to look at her amazing friends, tears bulding at her eyes before she yanked them all into a group hug.

“Aaahh!!! You guys are the best!!!”

And with that, the credits began to roll.  In retrospect this was a little bit silly, but Alphys was having a good time and it seemed like a cute concept so you figured you’d watch the show through.

________________

Apparently watching the show through meant watching Mew Mew Kissy Cutie non-stop till Undyne came home, which was about 7 PM.  Both you and Alphys had been too enraptured by the show to even think of lunch and only thought to tear your eyes away from the screen when Undyne slammed the door open.

“Babe!  I’m home!!  Is ______ still here?” Undyne called into the house. “I brought groceries!  Some ass tried to give me trouble but the cashier was nice.  We have to go to Park-it Parcel more often.”

“We-we’re on the couch!” Alphys called, barely taking the time to look toward the door.  Your stomach gave a low growl, firmly reminding you that you hadn’t had a decent meal since this morning.  Oops.

“Ugh,” You heard Undyne storm into the kitchen and slam the groceries down onto a counter before storming over to the living room. “Did you seriously forget to each lunch?  Again?!!”

“But we were watching Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!! A-and it was the best part, Mew Mew had just missed her kiss on this one guy and-” Alphys’ stomach interrupted her and Undyne grinned sweetly down at her girlfriend.

The fish monster swooped her head down to give Alphys a peck on the crown of her head and ruffled your hair with one hand.  “Come on, turn off that ‘human history’ and take a break.  You’re gonna rot your eyes out.”

“Human history?” You questioned, looking first toward a smug Undyne and an embarrassed Alphys. 

Undyne laughed and shrugged you off.  “Just an inside joke.  I’m gonna make dinner now, you can stay if you like, or not.”

“Oh, can I help?”

“Sure thing, book nerd!  I’ll show you the _real_ passions of cooking!!”

You snorted, it seemed that was your name now.  You diligently followed Undyne into her kitchen, which was rather small for a house holding two people.  It was cramped, but eventually the two of you came out with a decent looking quick miso chicken.  Alphys had already set the table by the time you finished and the three of you enjoyed the delicious meal.  Undyne talked about her day at the fitness training office, most people there were friendly towards monsters and rarely got any bigots.  She invited you to come over some time.

Alphys told you more about her work at the local laboratory, they were doing research into operations for monsters who had fallen down.  The subject fascinated her, but at the same time she seemed apprehensive.  She was looking desperately for a link between monsters who had fallen down and humans who had fallen down.  If was a certain thing that worked for humans, perhaps it could work for monsters.  For half a second you thought about mentioning your depression medication to her, but decided against it.  She didn’t need to know, and she probably had already looked into that anyway.

Once dinner was over, Undyne offered to drive you home since it was getting dark, and no one should be walking around in a town like this.  You agreed, there were some shady characters at night for sure but you weren’t sure you’d ever have a problem.  You didn’t mention that last part to her.  The ride back was pretty peaceful, Undyne wanted your every opinion on Mew Mew Kissy Cutie and the two of you gushed over her crush, Ayumu-kun.  By the time you’d arrived at your house you and Undyne were heatedly discussing whether Ayumu or Haruki was a better match for Mew Mew.  Clearly Haruki was the correct choice, but you decided it was too late to be discussing such matters when you could both could be sleeping in your own beds.

You said goodnight to Undyne and thanked her again for letting you stay over, the meal, and driving you home.  She waved you off and you watched her disappear down the road.  Finally escaping back into your home, you were tired after a long day of watching anime.  You took a quick shower to wash off the sweat from the early morning run and climbed into bed, waiting for sweet sweet sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I was out for so long folks! I'm trudging through some stuff, and still at [Thycora](https://thycora.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you ever want to chat.


	11. Drifting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have a nightmare. It doesn't go so well for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya folks! This chapter was thought out a lot quicker, I really wanted to get it out!! I gotta give you some warnings though, this chapter gets kinda dark concerning the dream namely ...
> 
> You force yourself to kiss someone else, so elements of noncon? Maybe? You be the judge, and be safe!  
> You order someone to kill themselves  
> You are killed by someone with a bloody knife.
> 
> None of these are terribly gruesome but please let me know if I need extra tags!!! I want you all to be safe!!

Sweet sleep and sweet dreams did not want to greet you, however.  Your dream started out okay, but it turned downhill eventually, as it almost always does.  You were running around the city with Papyrus and Undyne, enjoying the good exercise until you reached the forest where you tired out.  You tried to keep up but Papyrus and Undyne had already ran ahead of you, laughing all the way.  You lay down on the ground, exhausted and tired when cats start to creep out of the forest.  You spot one with pink eyes and you are frozen in place.  You can’t move.  Normally you’d be scared, but a dull sense of familiarity keeps your fears at bay.

The cat stalks toward you with importance in each step, then bends its head down to give your lips a quick lick.  You are freed from your immobile prison and rise, feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.  You know that you are Mew Mew now, and have the power to control people if you kiss them.  Of course, you don’t want to abuse this power.  You can imagine it being easy for a small teenager to succumb to it when you can kiss the dorky nerd and make him do all your homework.

You cannot hide your cat ears but have decided to place a band in front of them in the hopes that your friends will think you’re just wearing some cat ears just to be cute. Allie finds it adorable, Alphys and Undyne seem to know something’s up but neither can comment on it.  They’re too thrilled that you’re like a real anime girl now!  Sans tells you not to be too catty about the whole thing and Papyrus hates Sans’ puns, as always.  Toriel and Frisk thinks it’s cute and Tiana doesn’t seem to mind.  Kane takes every opportunity to tease you for being an otaku but you politely ignore him to the best of your abilities.

But you can’t keep up the charade of being calm forever.  Kane’s constant poking and prodding at your ears has worn thin on your nerves, and for the first time in forever you’ve had enough.  After a few days you craft a plan, inviting Kane to meet with you in a back office for lunch.  In the pit of your stomach you know this is wrong, this is not what you’d ever really want.  But you can only see yourself go through the motions, you cry out to try and stop yourself but it doesn’t work.  Kane meets with you as agreed, behind a closed door with no cameras.  You’re on him the second the door clicks shut, your lips pressed hotly to his.  He stumbled backwards but sinks into your kiss, hands smoothly reaching down your sides to rest comfortably on your hips.

There’s a part of you that feels sick at the contact, you know this isn’t right, this isn’t you but your body holds onto him with more strength than you think you’ve ever had.  You feel yourself deepen the kiss and Kane obliges, one hand sliding down to gently grope your ass.  He tastes salty and gross; you can feel an unwanted heat burning in your stomach.  You can’t take it anymore, feeling him hold you so intimately.  This isn’t you, this isn’t what you want!!  You suddenly shove him back against the door, an evil smirk on your face.

“I want you,” You hear yourself begin to speak and dread the words that fall off your lips next.  “To walk out of this city, and down to the river tonight.  Not just by the river, in the river.  Walk straight into the river, and do not come up for air.”

“Anything for you, ______.” Kane replies, his eyes glazed over with lust.

Your mind screams for Kane to snap out of it and you feel yourself give a sickening smile, “Good boy.”

It’s the next day, there are news reports of a young man who walked straight into a river the previous night.  Your eyes are glued to the TV screen and you can’t look away, you know you did this, you ordered him to do it and he fucking listened, why the hell did he listen?!  Some sick part of you is enjoying the fact that he’ll never bother you again but your heart cries out in pain.  This isn’t right!! You never wanted this!!  You start to scream and shout, to kick and rip out these stupid cat ears.

“You can’t do that, dearie,” You hear Alphys from behind you and whip around.  When did she get in your house?!

“A-Alphys?” You stutter and try to back away.  The wall is suddenly closer and you feel the room closing in.

“You could help me with my research, you know.  What a fascinating way to study how humans fall down, by observing and dissecting one who can get them to fall for me!  Or should I say for you?” She gives an maniacal cackle and your eyes go wide with terror. 

“N-No!!  I never meant- I didn’t want -” But you can feel metal claws slashing through the walls and pinning you them.  “No, don’t!”

“You should have thought of that before you became Mew Mew.”  She growls, whipping out a knife from behind her back.  You can see fresh blood dripping from it and old stains lining the handle.  How many people has she killed?

“Alphys please!” Tears stream down your face, you are sobbing, crying, begging for mercy.  Alphys does not hear you.  She laughs and laughs, growing higher pitched with each breath as she slowly stalks towards you.  You struggle against your bonds, ankles sore from the metal digging into your skin.  You cannot break free, and you have no time to react when she shoves a knife straight into your stomach, dragging it upwards in one swift motion with a howl of laughter.

You scream, you scream yourself awake.  Your body is covered in sweat and you’re trembling, hands clutched tightly to the blankets and a spare pillow tossed to the floor.  You pant, looking around the room and try to regain your composure.  It’s 3:47 AM.

“God damn it,” You hiss, fighting back tears as you slap a palm to your face.  “God damn it.”

You were doing so well, you were doing so fucking well and then this shit happens.  You haven’t screamed from a nightmare in months.  Why?  Why the hell now?!  Sobs wrack your body and you hold yourself tighter, willing the fear to go away but it only snakes in more.  If you had just been more responsible none of this would have happened.  If you could keep a damn handle on your fucking emotions you wouldn’t have to put up with this emotional bullshit, these fucking nightmares.

It wasn’t really too much to ask for a night without a nightmare, was it?  You were so tired, so so tired of having them all the time.  It became second nature to you at this point, but you hated these ones.  These ones, your waking nightmares … these were the worse.  The ones where you either scared yourself awake or when you woke you weren’t sure if you were awake, or safe.

Your head whipped around, looking for any intruders.  A shade covered your window, you could see the shadow of trees dancing behind it, but no sign of anyone sneaking up to get you on the second floor.  Oh god, what if Kane knew?  What if you managed to spill this to him?  You’ve told him and Tiana about your nightmares in passing, often as a joke more than anything and all Kane can think is that it’s extremely cool.  But what if you told him this time you ordered him to his death after assaulting his lips with your own?  Oh god, you _told him to kill himself._   Was there some sort of sick part of you that wanted him dead?  You did want this, didn’t you?  You were a horrible person who dreamt of people’s deaths and ordering them to their deaths.  Some nasty part of you enjoyed that.  What the hell was wrong with you?

And Alphys, oh god, Alphys.  You couldn’t tell her; you could never tell her.  You could never tell Alphys what she did to you in that dream, you know she would never do anything like that to you but god did it send shivers down your spine.  You remembered the way her glasses gleamed in the moonlight, her blade already bloodied as she advanced towards you.  Some part of you had fantasized that she had murdered multiple people, the sweet little dinosaur monster who spoke with a stutter.  You put that image on her for your own sick ways.

_Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, dontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdont-_

You end up in a sobbing heat at the front of your bed, curling in on yourself.  One hand shakily reaches for a pillow to cling to and you drag it closer, pressing it to your face to scream into it.  You hated this.  You hated this so fucking much.

You spend the next hour just sobbing and rocking yourself, trying desperately not to think of the dream but all you can do is watch Alphys flash her blade at you and Kane walking straight into the water with no regard for his own safety. 

A notification on your phone brighten the screen, it's Mindy’s craft store letting you know about a sale.  You look at the phone clock, it's approaching 5.  You can't go out like this, you can't go on a run with Papyrus and Undyne today.  You can't risk letting them know.  You figure Papyrus is already up and send him a quick text.

> **_You:_ ** _Hey Papyrus.  Sorry if I woke you, I didn't sleep well so I can't run today.  Please just let me rest.  I'll see you later, okay?_

You put down the phone with a sigh. You've barely closed tour eyes for a second when your text alert goes off. It must be Papyrus, that was fast!

> **_PAPYRUS:_ ** _HELLO ______!!!  I'M SORRY YOU DIDN'T SLEEP WELL.  PLEASE TRY TO GET SOME MORE REST.  CAN WE STILL JOG TOMORROW?_

You squinted at the caps lock, you forgot he did that.  You didn't feel like answering him right away, and you honestly weren't sure if you wanted to go out jogging the next morning, or even ever again.  You hated these stupid nightmares.

With a soft thump you laid back in bed and stared up at the ceiling, waiting to see if sleep would take you into its cold clutches once more.  Now that you didn't have Papyrus and Undyne to worry about maybe you could get a little rest.

For the next two hours sleep refused you.  You drifted in and out of consciousness but never full fell asleep. Your body begged to be fed, but you couldn't muster up the energy to leave the bed.  Who knows what was waiting for you if you left your room, and who cared anyway?

An hour later your phone went off twice, a message from both Papyrus and Allie.

> **_PAPYRUS:_ ** _HELLO!!  I HOPE YOU HAVE HAD A GOOD REST, I AM SORRY IF I WOKE YOU AND YOU NEED MORE.  DO YOU STILL WANT TO JOG TOMORROW MORNING?  YOU DIDN'T REPLY._
> 
> **_Allie:_ ** _Hey girl, Paps texted me after his run.  He said you didn't sleep well?  Whu didn't you call me, you know I'm here for you!_
> 
> _I'm not mad, promise.  But I just wanna check up on you, okay?  You has one hell of a day yesterday._

You scowled at the messages; why did everyone have to keep bothering you!  You just wanted to be left alone, that wasn't too much to ask for, was it?  Grumbling you decided to reply.

> **_You > Papyrus:_ ** _Sorry Pap.  I fell asleep.  I'm not sure ywt, I'll let you know ok?  Just want to be aone today._
> 
> **_You > Allie:_ ** _It wasn't tht bad, I just kept tossing a little.  nbd.  I think I need an alone day r two ok?_

There.  With messages sent and friends taken care of you could spend the rest of your day just caring for you.  Your stomach gave an insistent growl and you groaned in turn.  You guessed if you were productive enough to text people you could grab a little something.

Still in your pajamas you untangled yourself from the sheets and slipped out of bed.  You didn't bother getting dressed, or showering.  It wasn't worth it.

You trudged downstairs and made your way to the kitchen.  Cereal sounded simple enough.  So you made yourself a small bowl.  About half way through you found you couldn’t eat any more, memories of your gut being sliced open still plaguing your mind.  You had gotten three more text notifications during breakfast but ignored them.  You didn't want to deal with anyone right now, much less yourself.

After throwing away the uneaten cereal you decided to flick on your TV and rest.  Maybe you could just zone out to the weather channel or something.

You laid on your couch and hardly listened as the weather channel droned on about what to do in case if a wild fire. It wasn’t likely you'd ever be in one, so you didn’t bother to listen.  The next topic was rock slides and after that flooding.  You couldn't take hearing about how many people drowned every year due to flooding and shut the TV off as fast as you could.  Your heart pounded wildly in your chest and you looked to your windows in a panic, hoping the police weren't there to arrest you or Alphys wasn't there with a knife.

Taking a gulp, you decided the best way to quell those fears was to lock every window and put your special secondary lock on the door.  That way you could be sure no one got in.  You drew the curtains closed just for extra measure, there was no such thing as too careful.  During all this you had received a few texts, most from Allie, Papyrus, and now Alphys.  Guilt washed over you, the last thing you wanted to do was face her.  It was already nearing noon and you hadn’t spoken to anyone, and you didn't plan to.  You hustled back to the couch and curled yourself in as tight a ball as you could, hoping that maybe sleep could offer you a better dream and this whole damn thing would be over.

You didn't dream, or if you did you don't remember.  When you woke again it was nearing 6 PM, time for dinner practically.  With a frown you realized you slept through lunch, but you weren't feeling all that hungry either.  So you chose to recline on the couch for a few more hours, despite the protests from the kink in your neck.

A stray dog barking woke you much, much later.  You had slept through dinner, but you weren’t feeling particularly hungry.  It was almost 11 PM.  It took a lot of pushing on your part, but you eventually decided that sleeping on your bed would be a lot more comfortable than the couch.  You just felt tired and needed to sleep off that stupid nightmare and any other bad feelings that lingered.

________________

Papyrus woke you with a text at 6 AM, on the dot.

> **_Papyrus:_ ** _HELLO!!  I HOPE I DIDN’T WAKE YOU.  YOU NEVER DID RESPOND, ARE YOU FEELING OKAY?_
> 
> **_Papyrus:_ ** _DID YOU STILL WANT TO GO RUNNING WITH ME AND UNDYNE?  I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU!!!_

You glanced over the message and groaned.  You really didn’t feel like moving.  Your legs felt stiff and achy, you just felt tired and didn’t want to do anything.  You scrolled back up to read a couple of his previous texts, he really did seem concerned about you but … how could you face him, or Undyne, after what you dreamt?  No one would forgive you for having such a terrible dream about Alphys and how she killed you, you couldn’t let them know.  What would they think of you, what would they say?  Would they not want to be your friend anymore?  Probably, you wouldn’t blame them.  Seeing Toriel’s bloodied head was bad enough, but now one of your friends was killing you?  Do you have some weird sort of fantasy where you just destroy your friends or they destroy you?  You decided to ignore Papyrus.  You figured you’d answer it when you got up next and rolled back under the covers to sleep.

It didn’t last long, he kept pestering you every couple of hours or so.  Once it was after four you shut off your phone to ignore him.  Undyne had even sent you a couple of texts, letting you know how much you were worrying the poor skeleton and to get off your lazy ass and say something.  You couldn’t be bothered, and her yelling at you only made it worse.  You knew these friendships were too good to be true, if Undyne was going to get mad at you over things like this then who was to say that Papyrus wouldn’t?  Or Sans?  Or Toriel?  Fuck, Sans probably didn’t care he was so goddamn lazy.  Probably thought he and Papyrus were better off without a lousy stupid human like yourself.

________________

You woke the next day.  Your legs felt numb and heavy, your mind more tired and thick with sleep.  It was 10:30 AM.  You didn’t feel like getting up.  So you didn’t.

________________

By the fourth day your friends had decided they had enough of not hearing anything from you.  You were so tired, you just wanted to sleep.  Everything ached and your mind pounded from the dark realms of your subconscious.  There had been an endless stream of texts and calls made to your phone, to no avail.  You had shut it off and forgotten about it for two days, what would stir you to remember?

You think you heard some vague shouting from outside, you weren’t sure and didn’t have the energy to lift your head.  You were just so tired, and your muscles so heavy … it was easier to sleep, to sleep life away.  It’d come fetch you when it needed you.

A sudden click rang through your house, and you came to a grim realization: it probably needed you now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnnd that's it! Woo!! This one got pumped out fairly quickly because I can relate to it pretty personally, concerning the nightmare sorta thing. I held off on giving it to you guys so soon because I didn't want to zoom have this out and have nothing else for you guys for a while, that'd suck. With any luck I should have the next chapter ... out in a week? Or a little more/less? Stay tuned!!
> 
> Wanna chat some more or see me do other things? Come find me on tumblr at [Thycora!! :D](https://thycora.tumblr.com/)


	12. Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel, Sans, Papyrus and Allie come to your aid. Yay friendship!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We revisit themes from the nightmare, so be aware of death mentions!

Shit shit shit.  How the hell did they get in?  Allie is the only one with a spare key, but you put on that extra lock so she couldn’t get so that’s not possible – oh god did she call the police?  Fuck she called the police and now you’re going to have cops up your ass for a month, as if the interview in Tiana’s office wasn’t bad enough.  Fuck, they were probably gonna put you in some mental ward or-

“______?!  ______ where are you?!” You hear Allie call for you, she sounds desperate and scared.  Oh fuck, now you’ve upset her, what a great friend you are.

“She’s upstairs, I can sense her soul.  She’s alive.” Toriel?  What the hell is Toriel doing here?

“She’s gotta be in her bedroom then,” You can hear the pounding of footsteps as they near the stairs.  “Papyrus, you got that skeleton key ready?  I don’t know if she locked her bedroom door too.”

“It’s ready.” You can hear the determination in his voice and your heart aches.  This is the second time they’ve come to your rescue, why haven’t they given up already?  Haven’t they realized you’re going to keep doing this, keep doing these same damn mistakes?

You try to grab the blanket and pull it over your head but you’re too tired.  You’re so tired and exhausted you just want to sleep, so you curl in on yourself as best as you can.  You can hear the footsteps closing in and whimper.  The door handle jingles desperately and you can hear gentle murmurs outside the door.  The rattling stops, all is silent for a moment and then you hear the door give a gentle click.

You don’t have time to react, don’t have the energy to react as Allie runs into the room at full speed, launching herself onto your bed and curling herself around you.  You can feel her strong arms pull you close and you do your best not to react.  Tears threaten to spill, but you’re too tired to even cry now.

“You scared the shit out of me!!  And-and Toriel and Alphys and Papyrus and everyone!!!!” She cries into your neck and you start to feel even more guilty.  She sniffles and hugs you closer. “When was the last time you ate?  You look so pale …”

“…” You open your mouth to speak but words don’t come out.  Sharp pain sings through your stomach when you come to the realization that it’s been days since you had a decent meal.

“Sans, Papyrus, go downstairs to the kitchen and prepare some water, crackers, and a simple soup for ______.” Toriel commands.  You can barely make her out from the edge of your vision.  Wait, Sans is here too?  Oh no no no, this was bad, this was terrible, he was never going to like you after this.

“sure thing tori.” Sans is quiet and you hear him shuffle away.  He doesn’t seem to want to stick around.

“Human, you will be okay.” Papyrus calls from the doorway. “Please just hang on a little longer.  We were all so worried …”

You don’t have the energy to call back to either of the skeleton brothers and you hear them make their way downstairs and into the kitchen.  A soft groan escapes you and you try to communicate to Allie how sorry you are.  She hugs you one last time before pulling away and turning you around to face her.

“Don’t apologize, you dork.  I missed you.  Think you can sit up?”

Your hesitant, but you don’t want to fail her now.  Or Toriel, or Sans or Papyrus.  They came all the way here, just for you?  Your mind is still reeling from the fact that they came all this way to help you.  You guess you have no choice but to do what they say no; it’d be rude not to.  You attempt to push yourself up into a sitting position, and it works!  Allie smiles patiently and Toriel hums approval.

“That’s a good start, my friend,” The goat mother murmurs, stepping closer to you.  “Do you think you can walk down stairs?”

“…” You attempt to speak again but words won’t find you.  Your mouth is too dry to form any semblance of speech.  Allie rests a hand on your shoulder to help support you and you try to scooch forward to the edge of the bed.  Your legs feel like jello and shiver once your feet hit the floor.  You look down at them, unsure if you can force them into working and look up at Toriel with a helpless expression.  She smiles and nods, taking a few steps closer to rest a hand on your shoulder.

“That’s all right if you can’t.  Would you be okay with me carrying you downstairs?” She gives your shoulder a gentle reassuring squeeze and looks patiently toward you.

You sigh and give a dejected nod, you couldn’t even stand up from the bed if you wanted to.  With great care Toriel bends over to scoop you into her arms, nestling you close to her chest.  Allie quickly steps up beside the two of you and rests a hand on your shoulder before scooting ahead of you two and going downstairs to the kitchen.  Toriel doesn’t say anything as she carries you down the stairs, humming a soothing tune.  It feels distantly familiar somehow, maybe you’ve heard her hum or sing it before?  It brings a small warmth to your chest and you snuggle deeper into her touch.  Embarrassment be damned, it was so nice to be held after days of self-enforced solitude.

“No Sans!!  You have to stir it harder or the flavor won’t be as good!!!” You can hear Papyrus chiding his brother from the other room and give a weak smile.

“it’s just some chicken noodle pap.  i’m sure it’ll be _soup_ -er.”  Sans chuckled and his brother let out an immediate groan.  Your mouth twitches and you can feel Toriel suppressing her chuckles.

With grace Toriel glides towards the dining room, just a little ways away from the foot of the stairs.  Allie is close by, already arranging chairs to be closer to each other.  The goat woman gently sets you down into one of the seats as Alllie scooted in the one next to you, looping an arm over your shoulder to support you.  You still couldn’t produce any words so you chose to nuzzle your head into her shoulder as thanks.  She hums and clonks her head against yours, a silent ‘ _don’t worry about it_.’

“The soup should be ready in a few minutes dearie,” Toriel says softly.  She brings over a glass of water and a package of crackers that the skeleton brother’s must have prepared for you.  “Can I get you anything else?”

You deftly shake your head and reach slowly for the glass of water.  The glass is cold, the water chilled perfectly.  It’s a welcome sensation to the bleak warmth of your bedsheets.  Oh god they probably smell terrible now, you probably smell terrible-

“Don’t chug darling,” Toriel chides you gently, tipping the glass a bit away from your mouth.  You hadn’t even realized you were rushing it down your throat.  “Don’t want you to choke or anything.”

“hey, my _broth_ -er says the soups ready,” Sans calls, carrying in a hot pad in one hand and the pot of soup in the other.

“Do not use me to make more puns!!” Papyrus practically screeches, holding a blue bowl decorated with white flowers and a simple spoon.

You manage to give a soft giggle, hardly anything audible but Allie compliments it with an excited squeak and squeezes your shoulder.  Toriel chuckles and stands behind you, large comforting paws resting over your shoulders.  Sans is grinning like he just won the lottery and Papyrus is too happy that you’re able to even make a sound to be angry.

“missed that laugh,” Sans hums, starting to serve you some soup. “ya know, if you stayed in there any longer you’d get some _deep-rest_.”  Unable to control yourself, you give a snort of laughter.

“Sans that was terrible!!” Papyrus scolds his brother with a gentle smack to the skull and Toriel and Allie try to hold their own laughter back.

“come on, eat,” Sans takes the seat next to you and Papyrus next to him.  He swirls the spoon in your soup bowl for a moment before the spoon comes to a rest at you.  “pap is gonna get real _steamed_ if we don’t take care of you.”

A cute blush rises to your cheeks as Toriel chuckles and Allie practically snorts and waggles her eyebrows at you.  You don’t have the energy to give her a playful smack and you hope to the stars that Sans didn’t see that.  You’d never let yourself live it down, or forgive Allie.  You give her as gentle a shove as you can manage, which really isn’t much and she giggles.  The tall skeleton gives a huff but doesn’t respond to the pun.  He’s just glad you’re well enough to be upright and that you’re actually eating.

After downing a few spoonful’s of soup, nibbling on a bunch of crackers and finishing all your water you decide to take a rest from eating.  Your friends nod in understanding, they don’t want to push you and accidentally make you sick.  You sit there quietly for a few minutes, letting the realization of what you did slowly sink in.  You know they’re going to want an explanation, and when you give it … what are they going to think of you?  Will Allie be finally fed up for doing this for you for years now?  Hasn’t she grown tired?

“Hey.  Look at me.”  Allie’s soft voice brings you out of your mind.  Her hand moves across the table to grip yours.  “I’m not mad.  I might be a little upset.  But I’m not going anywhere, I’m gonna stay. And so will they.  Right guys?”

Positive murmurs echo around the room, hands reaching to find some purchase on your shoulder or back to try and ground you.  After finally having some water in your system your eyes managed to release a few tears, a hiccupping sob leaving your mouth.  Allie held you closer, Toriel leaning over to embrace you, and Sans and Papyrus reaching over to give you some form of comfort.  You spent a little while longer like that, surrounded by your friends.  Questions raced through your mind, why were they still here, how could they even come to your aid but you’re still too tired to even form a coherent sentence.

What feels like hours in their arms probably only lasts 30 minutes before Allie gingerly pulls away and asks, “So … do you wanna talk about it?”

You look down, ashamed.  You try to open your mouth to speak, but words still won’t come.  You give her a pleading look and she smiles.

“That’s all right.  Can we do the yes/no thing?”  She holds out both her hands and you slowly put yours into hers.

“What’s this?” Toriel asks with a soft voice as Sans and Papyrus look on.

“Sometimes ______ isn’t always up to talking, or can’t.  But we developed this thing where I ask her yes or no questions.  So it’s kinda like talking to her, but she has full control of the conversation and doesn’t have to answer anything she doesn’t want to.  She’ll squeeze my right hand for yes,” Allie pauses for a moment and you oblige.  “And my left hand for no.” You give her left hand a gentle squeeze with your right.  “Usually this is enough for me to figure out the bits and pieces of what happened and I can make an educated guess as to what will or won’t help.

“However,” she fixes you with a hard stare.  “Eventually talking is going to help you.  I know you’re not always keen on spilling everything to your therapist but I want you to arrange at least one appointment with them after this whole spell, okay?  You should at least tell them what’s going on.”

You look down at your hands, feeling hot embarrassment rise to your face.  You really should have talked to someone.  You would guess it’s too late now but … hell, with all these second chances, maybe there’s hope for you yet.

“So, did this start four days ago?”

Right hand.

“Did someone say something mean to you?”

You hesitated, thinking for a moment.  Alphys did, in your dream but … you squeezed her left hand.

“Okay, that’s a start.  Did you see anyone else the night you left Alphys and Undyne’s?”

Left hand.

“Anyone the day after?”

Left hand.

“So you haven’t seen anyone for four days.”

Right hand.

“Okay so … listen, ______, I’m gonna have to tell them about the nightmares thing.  Cause I think that this is what this is about.  Am I right?” Allie gives a heavy sigh and the terrified expression on your face is enough of an answer that you don’t have to use your hands for an answer.

“Nightmares?  Oh dear, I am so sorry about that.” Toriel coos, bringing a soft paw to gently run through your hair.  “I’ve had my fair share as well; they are no fun …”

“These nightmares are different though,” Allie purses her lips, trying to think of a good way to explain it to everyone gathered here.  You give a slow nod, giving her permission to tell them about the nasty dreams. “Well, not necessarily different so much that they’re just frequent.  Like, nightly frequent.”

“Oh my,” Toriel gasps and you feel Sans stiffen beside you.  That was weird.

“were you having a nightmare on the couch?  when pap and i walked you home the other day?” Sans asked, his deep voice hinting at concern.

You hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to answer him.  With a sigh you released Allie’s hand and moved your left hand across the table, searching for Sans’ right hand.  He offers it and you give the bones a gentle squeeze.  Sans hummed with understanding, gently rubbing his thumb across your knuckles.

“sorry about that pal.  woulda woken you if i knew.” His voice is soft and caring, eyes flickering down to look at your joined hands.  You don’t know what you did to deserve this.  You shake your head and smile up at him, blinking away tears.

He smiles back, “well, it ended all right, didn’t it?”

You give a soft huff of amusement and squeeze his hand again.  You can’t see Allie as you’re too focused on Sans right now, but she is practically beaming with pride.  She gives a gentle cough to draw your attention back to her, and it’s not lost on either her or Papyrus that you hesitate to pull away from Sans.  You fit your hands back into Allie’s and the questions continue.

“So, did you have a nightmare the night you left Alphys and Undyne’s?”

Right hand.

“Did someone die?”

Papyrus gave a quiet gasp and you felt Sans’ hand grip your back tighter.  Sympathy radiated from your friends and you felt so grateful and undeserving all at once.  For a moment you were conflicted on how to answer the question, two people died technically.  Kane and you, after you told Kane to kill himself and when Alphys murdered you.  But you guessed the answer was closer to yes, so you squeezed her right hand.

“Mmm.  Haven’t had one of those in a while, huh?” Allie asked, and was shocked when your left hand tightened.  “No?  Did … someone die, when you had that nightmare on the couch?  With Sans?”

You squinted at her, she didn’t have to ask that last bit, buuuut … yes.  That was correct.

“Was it Toriel?” Her voice was hushed, you felt Toriel flinch behind you and fought back tears.

Right hand.

“That’s not surprising,” Allie murmured, looking over you.

“My friend, I am so sorry you dreamt that,” Toriel began, gently turning your face so she could look at you better.  “I promise you I am alive and well.  Those terrible dreams are not real; you must remember this.”

You shuddered and nodded, hanging your head.  You were surprised to hear Sans speak up though, “doesn’t make the fear any less real though.”

You turned your head, how could Sans possibly know?

“Yes, forgive me,” she nodded.  “That fear must have been very real.  I am sorry, I was not trying to invalidate that.”

You smiled back up at her.  Maybe things were going to be all right after all.

“Usually one person dying is enough to shake her, but not make her go completely silent.” Allie begins, turning the conversation back to the nightmare you had.  “So … now I have to ask … did more than one person die?”

With reluctance you gripped her right hand tighter.

“Was it you?”

And there is was, the straw that broke the camel’s back.  You were going to have to tell them that Alphys murdered you.  You flung yourself into Allie, hands clenched into fists near her collar bone.  She gave a sympathetic hum and wrapped her arms around you, pulling you closer to her.  Papyrus, Sans and Toriel remained silent, not sure what to do next.

“Hey … ______, I hate to push more …” Allie rubbed comforting circles around your back.  “But do you think you could tell me more about the nightmare?  About how you died?”

Still heaving with sobs, you fought to control yourself.  Allie was giving you an out, you didn’t really have to reveal what had happened … but they would find out sooner or later.  None of them seemed to be reacting terribly badly to your previous nightmare … maybe you could trust them with this?

You took in a deep breath and shakily released it.  Somewhere in the back of your mind you remembered that slow breathing usually helped calm people down.  You tried to work to breathe slowly, letting Allie cradle and rock you ever so slightly.  The rest of the house was silent, your other guests patiently waiting for you to say or do something.

“… Al … Alphys.” You managed to croak and buried your face deeper into your friend’s chest, too afraid to look at anyone.

“Alphys? How does Alphys fit into the dream?” Allie asked, tipping her head down to rest against yours.

You tried speaking again but more sobs forced their way through.  You heard Toriel shift a little behind you and you felt three hands gently place themselves on your back.  They waited patiently for you to give an answer, or to simply tell them you couldn’t say.  You shuddered and leaned into their touch, thankful for their support but still terrified of what they would think.

“Sh-she … she … she …” You couldn’t get the words out, you couldn’t say it.  Toriel’s large hand smoothed your messy hair down.

“Take your time dearest,” The goat woman soothed.  “We can wait.”

Sans and Papyrus mumbled something of an agreement, you couldn’t make out what they were saying.  You wanted to be brave enough to tell them, to speak those words but … something was stopping you.  You bit your bottom lip, trying to think.  How could you show them?  You slowly pulled back from Allie, releasing her and wiping your wet face with the back of your hand.  She smiled patiently at you and you felt the warmth of your friends surround you.

An idea dawned on you, and you turned back to the abandoned soup bowl.  Your friends watched with curious silence and you plucked out the spoon and dried it off with the napkin.  Shaking you gripped the spoon by its handle, unsure of how to hold it first.  You twirled it around in your fingers for a moment before deciding the handle was good enough, pointing the scoop end towards you.  You looked up at Allie who was watching you closely, eyes searching your face for information.

Your lip quivered and you gave a gentle smile before rising the spoon in the air just a bit before sending it thrusting downward towards your stomach.  Your friends let out a collective gasp and Allie snatched your wrist before the silverware could make any contact.  Tears leaked from the corners of your eyes and you tried to smile, tried to tell her _‘I wasn’t really going to hurt myself.’_

“She didn’t have a spoon, did she?” Allie asked, carefully prying the spoon from your hand.  You shook your head, still unable to speak.  She set the spoon down on the table and pulled you in for another hug.  “No wonder you were so scared.  I’d be too.”

“Human?” Papyrus finally spoke up after being so uncannily quiet.  You turned your head towards him, trying to give your best smile through the tears.  “Did … were you … were you afraid we would be upset with you if you told us about this?  That Alphys had …”  His voice trailed off.  He wasn’t sure if you were even up to hearing about it.  You looked down, unable to meet this gaze and nodded.

“it’ll take a lot more than that to scare us off,” Sans sighed, giving you a lazy grin as he pat your shoulder.  “we couldn’t be mad at you over a thing like that.”

“…R-r…rea-really?” You barely managed a stutter and your friends nodded eagerly.

“Of course, dear.  We could never be mad at you over any dream.” Toriel hummed, gently wiping away some tears with a soft and fuzzy finger.

“… Oh.”  It was all you could think to say.

And then, the chuckles came.  Slow laughter bubbling up from inside you, your mind laughing at you over how stupid this all was.  You were so scared of their rejection, and for what?  Four days without a decent meal, decent friends?  No, they weren’t decent.  They were so much more.  They were truly the greatest friends you could have ever asked for.  No one questioned your giggly nature, and your friends must have taken it as a good sign too as they introduced their own quiet laughter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again guys!! This chapter is roughly 1,000 words longer than usual, so yay!! :D I loved doing the puns, god I missed writing Sans and his little punnerisms. I was just _dying_ to use that deep-rest joke heheh. Okay, okay, too soon, my bad. I love puns so much and Sans is perfect and good yes.
> 
> As always, you may find me on tumblr at [Thycora](thycora.tumblr.com) on tumblr!! I am open to asks and chats and whatevers.
> 
> Toodles, I hope you all have a lovely day ^^ And thank you so much for over 100 kudos!!!! Holy crap I can't believe I almost didn't notice thank you!!! You are all so amazing!! <3 Seriously, so many kudos, bookmarks, and hits mean the world to me. I can't thank you all enough.


	13. Fight and Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans abducts you. Don't worry, it's for a good reason!

The laughter was short lived as you heard an angry vehicle roar into your driveway.  You startled and clung close to Allie, eyes wide with terror and you could feel your friends’ grips tighten on you.  Toriel smoothed your hair down once more in a feeble attempt to calm you while Sans and Papyrus glared out into the living room to where the door to your house was.

“Did we shut the door when we came in?  Or lock it?”  Allie hurriedly whispers, whipping her head around.

“We may have left it open …” Papyrus admits, guilt lining his skull.

“Sans, perhaps you could shut the door with-”

“NO I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!!”

“U-U-Undyn-ne plea-se-se!!  She di-i-idn’t m-m-mean to-”

Oh fuck.

“WELL I’M NOT GONNA MEAN TO SCARE THE SHIT OUTTA HER BUT THAT WON’T MAKE A FUCKING DIFFERENCE!!!!!” You can hear Undyne’s shouts from outside, barely able to make out Alphys from behind her.  You push yourself closer to Allie, mostly terrified but a small part of you accepts the punishment that is to come.  You knew there had to be consequences to this; you couldn’t just get away with locking yourself up after a horrible nightmare and not piss someone off.  Someone had to hate you, someone always had to.  That was how the world worked.

“pap.  how did undyne know that we were here with ______?” Sans’ voice is low and dangerous, you can feel his phalanges tighten on the fabric of your shirt.

“I-I was just sending Alphys a text!!  You knew how worried she was, I thought she should know that our friend was feeling well enough to eat and see people!!!” You’d never really heard Papyrus stutter before and you figured if he was nervous you should probably be shitting your pants in terror.  “I am sure this is all just a misunderstanding!”

“and how do you think undyne’s gonna react when she hears about ______’s dream?”

“We hadn’t known that part yet when I texted Alphys,” he muttered and you could hear the pout in his voice.

Toriel’s grip on you is frim as you hear Undyne stomp her way through your house, one eye wild with fury and Alphys trailing cutely after her, stammering word after word to try to calm her girlfriend down.  Well, it’d be cuter if it didn’t look like Undyne was about to rip you to shreds.

Before you can even think Sans has disappeared from your side and reappeared in the giant fish monster’s way.  She snarls and comes to a halt, but not without giving the angriest stomp of her foot.  Alphys shoots Sans a thankful glance and tries to get her girlfriend’s attention, to no avail.

“Sans.” Undyne snarls, yellow teeth bared. “Get.  Out.  Of.  My.  Way.”

“nah.  i don’t think ______ could _stand_ to be in your presence right now.”  As much as Sans would like to believe he was helping, you were petrified that he was in fact making it worse.  There was no way in hell that Undyne would ever forgive you now.

Papyrus scooted around the table after giving your shoulder a reassuring squeeze.  He ran over to Sans, effectively blocking Undyne’s path.  Alphys tried weakly tugging at her shirt, trying to get her to turn around.  But Undyne refused.

“Undyne please don’t be mad, this is all a great misunderstanding!” Papyrus tried pleading with her.  “You see, ______ had a nightmare and then-”

“Oh!  I get it!!” She snapped, taking a bold step forward.  “She had a nightmare!! Well that’s fine and dandy, perfectly excuses the fucking panic attacks Alphys had!!!”  You felt guilt churning in your stomach.

Toriel huffed and fixed the fish monster with a hard glare, “Undyne it’s more complicated than-”

“NO!!!  IT DOESN’T GET MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT!!”  Undyne roughly shoved Papyrus aside, practically kicking Alphys off her back and swung a fist in Sans’ direction as she began to storm over to you. 

You don’t know how Sans managed to not get hit, skillfully dodging to the side with that same lazy grin on his face.  Papyrus grabbed her shoulder again, begging her to listen but she would not.  You turned back to Allie who had said nothing, she was quaking with fear and you could only tremble in her arms.  You never meant to bring this hurt to her, to bring this hate.

Toriel’s grip on your shoulder tightens, she seems ready to defend you at a moment’s notice but you can’t help but feel Undyne is right.  Nothing excuses causing another friend to have panic attacks.  You feel like you’re going to throw up, not only did you hurt your friends you hurt Alphys to the point of multiple breakdowns.  The weight of that realization crashes down on you and you can barely muster the energy to release some tears.

“hey, allie.” Sans was suddenly by your side; how did he get there?  “can i borrow ______ for a sec?”

Allie blinked, shocked by his sudden reappearance and nodded slowly.  She released you from her iron grip and you stared blankly at Sans.  Toriel moved around the table to try to block off Undyne some more, and give Sans enough time to do whatever it is he’s thinking of doing.

“cool, thanks.” He grinned lazily at your friend before guiding you into a standing position and held you close.  Unconsciously, you rested your head against his shoulder.  You weren’t aware of the creeping blush on your face.

“SAN’S DON’T YOU DARE!!!!” Undyne is cut off as Toriel body blocks Undyne from coming any closer.  You can barely hear her raging over the blood pounding in your ears.

“hey, ______, still with me?” You gave a slow nod, completely bewildered.  “great.  now close your eyes and don’t let go.”

Completely numb to any feeling and so used to obeying, you nodded and held Sans as you shut your eyes.  You felt your stomach lurch and felt the ground give way beneath you.  Immediately you grappled for a better hold on and clung to him as tight as you could and opened your mouth to scream, but no sound came out.  You felt him chuckle beneath his jacket as his arms tightened around you.  A chilling wind seemed to whip at your cheeks, darkness was everywhere, not a patch of light.  The air felt desolate and dry and you began to slowly tremble.  You didn’t dare open your eyes at this point, too scared of what you might see.

“i got you.”

A resounding snap rang in your ears and you could feel the ground beneath your feet again.  Your legs wobbled and threatened to plant you on the ground if not for Sans’ strong arms holding you upright.

“sorry about that.  we’re here now, you can let go and look if you want.  i can, uh, set you down gently.  yeah that’s probably best.” For the first time in your life you could have sworn that Sans sounded flustered.  You had never heard him go beyond a casual joking attitude, to sound slightly anxious was a little alarming.

You opened your eyes and blinked at the harsh sunlight.  Wait, sunlight?!  Why was there sun in your living room?  And where did those trees come from and oh god what the actual fuck was happening?!  You head swiveled around like an own as you desperately tried to soak in your new environment.  Your body was still shaking from adrenaline and you had no idea how to comprehend this new environment you were suddenly in.  Why the hell were you surrounded by a forest near a rock outcropping?  How did you even get here?!!

Sans gently lowers you to the ground and sits himself down beside you.  You don’t realize that you’re still clinging to him with all your might before he gives a gentle cough.  You release your grip on him and go to apologize but you’re breathing too hard.  You try to take a calming breath; it doesn’t quite seem to work.  You feel a grounding hand on your shoulder and look deep into Sans’ eyes.  His face searches yours for any kind of panic, pupils shrinking in an almost adorable way as he scrutinizes your face.  You took in a shuddering breath and released it, this seemed to help some.  You try to croak out a sorry but nothing comes out.

“’sfine,” Sans mumbles, glancing away from you for a moment.  “i probably shoulda warned you anyways.  and asked you.  sorry, i wasn’t thinking, been bit of a _numbskull_ lately.”

“… Where … where are we …?  … How …?” Your voice is faint, still not used to speaking.  You attempt to clear your throat in a meager attempt to ask again and he just gives you a lazy smile.

“so ah … we’re at the exit of the underground.  on mt. ebott.   i kinda ‘ported us away from your house cause i was pretty sure undyne snapping at you wasn’t gonna end well.”

You blinked once, attempting to understand.  Sans saw the confusion on your face and laughed.

“in layman’s terms, i can teleport.  it’s a bit more complicated than that, but you get the gist.  i can take people with me if i really want or need to.”  He explained calmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on.  You slowly nodded, not fully believing him.  That had to be the only explanation but … teleportation?  It was like some sort of superpower out of a comic book.  “i took us up to ebott cause i figured that being yelled at prooobably wasn’t gonna do you any good.  want your first interactions back to be good ones, ya know?”

For a while you sat there, taking in the information.  There was no reason for Sans to lie, and there was no other possible explanation for the two of you being all the way out here.  You nodded slowly and let out a shaky breath.

“Thank you,” You murmured, looking down at your feet.

“no prob bob.” He sighed, turning to look towards the outcrop.  You chuckled softly.

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from Sans’ pocket.  You jumped back and stared around wide-eyed before you recognized the words.

“HIS PALM’S SPAGHETTI, KNEES WEAK, ARM’S SPAGHETTI, HAS SPAGHETTI ON HIS SWEATER, MOM’S SPAGHETTI!!” Sans casually takes his phone out of his pocket, seeming quite pleased with himself.  The ringtone begins to repeat and blare as he just grins at you, waiting for a reaction. “HIS PALM’S SPAGHETTI, KNEES WEAK, ARM’S SPAGHETTI, HAS SPAGHETTI ON HIS SWEATER, MOM’S SPAGHETTI!!”

“Is … is that …?” You can barely hold back the smile from your lips.  Sans just chuckles and answers.

“sup bro?”

“YOU KNOW WHAT’S “UP” BROTHER!!!  WHERE DID YOU AND THE HUMAN GO???!!” You can hear Papyrus screeching over the phone and honestly you’d be more upset by that if it weren’t for the fact that Sans’ ringtone for him is a fucking remixed version of Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’.  It’s taking every bit of energy you have not to burst out cackling at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“oh, you know.  out.” Sans side eyes you with an even wider grin and you can’t help but give an ugly snort as Papyrus shrieks once more.

“I CAN SEE THAT!!!  OR, RATHER, I CAN’T SEE THAT!!!!  UNDYNE IS THROWING A FIT, I CAN BARELY HOLD HER DOWN AND THE OTHER HUMAN HAS BEEN SHOCKED INTO SILENCE!!!!!”  Your brain is working too slowly to fully process that Papyrus was talking about Allie.

“yeah, sorry about that bro.  think you and tori can hold the fort down till undyne calms down?” Sans acts as if all this is so normal, and the calming atmosphere he gives off is so relaxing to you.

“I … I SUPPOSE!!!  BUT UNDYNE IS NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS!!! YOU HAVE TO APOLOGIZE LATER!!!!” You can practically hear Papyrus’ scowl and it brings a small smile to you face.  You’ve seen Papyrus scold his brother frequently, but there’s always a hint of love in his voice.  Sometimes it made you a little jealous.

“i’ll think about it, if undyne apologizes to ______.” He replies, not quite stern but not quite relaxed either.

“She was rather rude …”

“PAPYRUS ARE YOU TALKING TO YOUR BROTHER??!!!! I’M GONNA TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB!!!!  AFTER I’M FINISHED WITH ______!!!!!!”

“UNDYNE NO!!!!”

Ah, yes, that’s right.  There was a reason you were trying to fight down your flight or fight response.  You suppose it’s a good thing you chose freeze instead.  Sans gives an awkward chuckle.

“welp that sounds like my que to hang up and let you handle the situation.  I know you can handle it bro, you’re the best.”

“But wait Sans where are-”

He quickly shuts his phone off, terminating the conversation.  Your friend sighs, looking down at his phone.  You almost don’t hear him murmur, “sorry bout dumpin that on you paps.  i’ll make it up to you.”

The two of you glance at each other for a moment before sitting in awkward silence.  Birds chirp in the distance, sunlight filters down on you.  It’s somewhat nice to finally be outside, you can feel the cool breeze drifting through the tree branches.  The warm sun gently covers your body, its healing warmth feeling like bliss.  You hum and fold your legs up, wrapping your arms around then and bringing your knees to your chest.  It feels a little better to be curled up like this, and Sans doesn’t seem to mind.  He doesn’t seem to even know what to say, practically looking everywhere but at you.  You glance over at him and smile, it was rather sweet of him to get out of there while Undyne was probably going to spear you …  Nah, there couldn’t be something there.  That’s just what good friends do.

Your thought process is interrupted by a growling stomach, more specifically yours.  Sans jumps a little at the noise, turning to face you before chuckling quietly.  A small laugh escapes you and you bring your knees back to the ground, forcing yourself to sit up and get a better look at your friend.

“guess we forgot about the whole food thing, huh?” Sans murmurs and you give a slow nod.  “i don’t think it’s a good idea to try and take you elsewhere though … moving through space like that can be pretty jarring … and you’re basically running on empty so …”

You tilt your head downwards, ashamed.  What you did was incredibly stupid, you can’t believe you even let yourself do this, how utterly stupid he must think you are, stupid stupid stupid!!

“hey.” A boney hand covers yours, breaking your self-deprecation.  You look up to see San’s eye sockets wide with concern. “didn’t mean to bring back any bad memories.  sorry about that.  but it’s not your fault, okay?  you can’t …” He huffs. “you can’t keep blaming yourself.”

You’re not sure how Sans knew what you were thinking, but decide to trust his words.  It kind of is your own fault anyway but … having him here is nice.  Being here is nice.  You give him a waning smile and he smiles back.

“i got a favor to call in, i can get someone to bring us some food.  you been to grillbz before?” You shake your head. “damn, that’s a shame.  i’ll have to take you sometime.”

Before you can even ask what a ‘grillbz’ even is Sans already has his phone out and calling some number.  You know it’s rude to eavesdrop but you are curious who this favor is coming from.  Can’t be from Pap, Alphys, or Toriel … definitely not from Undyne.  Oof that’s going to be a whole ‘nother can of worms when you get to it.  You give a dainty snort and briefly wonder if that’s an insult since Undyne’s part fish.

“hey, bp, you there?”

“You’re lucky I’m on break, Sans.” The voice sounds familiar, where have you heard it before?

“yeah, yeah.  listen, i need to call in that favor.  you know ______, right?”

“Oh, yeah!!  She’s Shybooty on Fableface, right?  What a cute nickname, bet you’d like to get some of that booty if you know what I mean.  Wink wink, nudge nudge.”

For some reason you start to feel incredibly exposed as a red flush rises to your face.  Maybe that name wasn’t such a good idea.  You clutch your arms to your chest, pointedly hiding your chest from sight despite the fact that no one’s here to see it.  Well, no one but Sans.

It suddenly dawns on you that you’re still in your pajamas from four days ago.  Not only do you probably reek, you’re not wearing a bra.  You never wear a bra to bed.  You cling to yourself tighter to fight back any urge to whimper or scream.  Oh fuck it if was cold in that dark place and your … NOPE NOPE NOPE!!  You’re not going to think about it, you’re definitely not going to think about Sans potentially feeling your breasts and/or nipples through your shirt!!  That hoodie he always wore was pretty thick, right?  He wouldn’t feel it, he probably couldn’t.  He’s a fucking skeleton, what would he even know about human breasts?  He probably doesn’t know anything might have been out of the ordinary and definitely wouldn’t have liked it nope.

Sans’ grip tightens on his phone; you swear you saw his eyes darken.  “bp don’t make me regret this.  will you be nice and help or not?”

“Aww c’mon, Sans!  I’m always nice!  Why, what’s up with ______?  She ok?  Come to think of it I haven’t seen her online for five days now I think … or was it six? Haha I gotta keep better track of people.” His voice does seem genuinely concerned and Sans seems satisfied that he won’t do anything untoward.

“she’s uh …” Sans pauses to look back at you, trying to gauge something, you’re not sure what. “she’s not doing so good right now.  think you could run to grillbz and get us some burgs and fries?  we’re near the exit of the underground.”

“Oh, damn, of course!!  Fuck, I can take this next shift off.  I’ll say there was an emergency, this is an emergency, right?”

“mm … something like that, yeah.  i’d get her there myself but i don’t think it’s a good idea to move her right now.”

“Oh, oh god, what happened?  Is she hurt?  Should I get some extra monster food?  I-I can stop by Muffets!!”

Sans laughs softly, “sure, why the hell not.  thanks bp.”

“No problem!! Where did you say you were again?”

“uh … at the exit to the underground?”

There’s an obvious beat of silence, and during this time it slowly clicks in your head that he’s talking to none other than Burgerpants, the cat monster you went on a date with a while ago.

“burgerpants, you still there?” Sans asks, and you can tell he’s got this almost smug grin on his face like he knows he’s being a piece of shit for asking for such a big favor and he loves it.

“Y-yeah … yeah uh I better get started.  I guess I can drive up there?  Oh fuck, damn it, it’s gonna take me forever to hike up that piece of shit mountain.”

“it’s just an hour’s hike if you don’t take a car,” he huffs. “come on, they cleared a road up halfway for easier access.  It’s not gonna be that long, and we need to take care of ______.”

“Ffft, fine.  I wouldn’t do this if you didn’t have that stupid thing hanging over my head!!”

“or under.”

“OKAY SANS BYE!!!”

And with that declaration Sans shuts his phone off and decides to lay down on the grass next to you, phone nestled in his side pocket.  His eyes close and he mumbles, “it’ll take bp a lil bit to get here.  how about you rest till then?  i know that’s only what you’ve been doing for the past … uh … bit, but you gotta conserve your energy.”

You give a small cough and hum, shifting onto your back as well and look up to the clouds.

“I’m … I’m not sure I can rest, or sleep.  I’m still running from the adrenaline of Undyne shouting at me.” You groan and slap your hands to your face.  “Oh god she’s going to fucking kill me the next time she sees me.  How could I do that to Alphys?”

You feel a thick, boney hand reach over to guide your hands away from your face.  Sans is scowling at you, “you can’t do that do yourself.  you didn’t do that to her.   you scared the hell out of everyone, sure, but you can’t keep hurting yourself like this.”

“I’m sorry.” The response is automatic, you can’t help it.

“don’t be.” He sighs and shakes his head. He pauses for a moment, not quite sure what to do next.  Sans decides to cross his arms behind his head like a pillow and stares up into the sky.

“… hey if you can’t sleep then, i dunno, maybe i can tell you a story?  i used to do it for paps all the time when he couldn’t sleep.”

You take a moment to blink the stars out of your eyes.  Sans reading to Pap, hat was too cute!!  Sans starts to turn away, almost mumbling something about that being a stupid idea when you reach out to his arm.

“No I … I would like that.  That’d be nice.  No one’s told me a story in years.”  You give his arm a reassuring squeeze and he smiles back, gently tugging it back.

“heh, sure.  what kinda story do you want?”  Sans seems to be grinning like he’s trying not to be too pleased with himself.

You ponder this thought for a moment, wrinkling your nose as though deep in thought.  You look back to him and finally decide, “It has to have a happy ending.”

“a happy ending?” he echoes, sounding bemused.

“And you have to tell it well,” you pout and Sans just laughs.

“okay, okay, one goodly-told happy ending story coming up.”

“Sa-ans noooo.” You hate it when people do that, but you can tell Sans is just ribbing you.  Heh.  Ribbing.

Sans closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before starting, “twice down a never-”

“Oh my god you giant dork!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was gonna be longer, but I kept having trouble with it and by the time I got to here it would have been silly not to break the chapter where I was. So happy reading!! :D I hope you enjoy the skelly snuggs, if a bit unintentional. Sans is a sweet bone <3 And guess I gotta put Burgerpants in the tags now, I really wasn't expecting him to make a big scene ...
> 
> Oh and thank you to anon for helping me confirm what Sans' ringtone for Paps was. This is definitely the best decision.
> 
> As always, I am on tumblr if you want to do talk things or whatever at [thyora](https://thycora.tumblr.com/)!! :D


	14. Breaktime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have a nice lil picnic with Burgerpants and Sans, then remember to call Allie.

It takes Burgerpants almost an hour to get to you and Sans, he’s running up the hill and panting like he ran a marathon.  Well, you suppose that isn’t far from the truth seeing as he ran around town just to get you some food, and ran up a mountain.  You move to get up and meet him halfway once he comes into sight but your legs aren’t having any of it. Sans laughs and supports your back, making sure you won’t fall over before blipping out of existence and by the cat’s side.  Burgerpant’s startles immediately, his tail floofing up like a bottle brush and you can’t help but giggle at him.  You always loved it when your cat got excited enough to do that … maybe you needed a pet at home.  Sans murmurs something to Burgerpants and they share a laugh, then Sans blinks them both away from the edge of the path and next to you.

“So ah, I w-wasn’t sure what you wanted so, ah, god you look pale, what the hell happened to you?” Burgerpants’ lack of tact makes you uncomfortable but the feeling slips away as you feel Sans come to sit beside you.

“Right, sorry that was a stupid question.  You don’t have to tell me, aww, geeze, man I feel awful.  I shoulda checked in on you!” He grumbles as he comes to sit down beside you, spreading out a cute red and white picnic blanket before the three of you.  “I, uh, got you different things like Grillby’s, uh, Sans probably told you.  I’m just talking too much now, I’m sorry, I’ll be quiet.”

Burgerpants adopts a solemn face now, looking very guilty and remorseful all at once.  It’s too endearing and you can’t help but coo, “No, n-no it’s okay Burgerpants.  Really, thank you so much for bringing all this stuff … there’s so much!”

His ears perk up at the compliment and then switch back as a cute pink blush decorates his cheeks.  “I-it was nothing.”

The food was delicious to say the least.  You’d never really tried monster food because you hadn’t had a need to!  And it’s not that you were scared of the monster establishments or anything you just … didn’t want to invade their safe space was all. Yes that was definitely 100% the full reason.  Grillby’s burgers and fries were the best you’d ever tasted, “and non-fattening too.” Sans remarked, giving his pseudo-stomach a pat for emphasis and you laughed.  You really did enjoy your little impromptu picnic.  And Muffet’s cider … you don’t think you’ve tasted anything sweeter!!  It’s absolutely delicious!! Screw morning coffee, you’re gonna have spider cider from now on every morning!

After another couple of hours of just relaxing and being with your friends it slowly dawns on you that you haven’t checked back in with Allie or anyone!  And Sans hasn’t said he got any messages from them, you wonder if everyone is okay.  It’s in this moment you recall that Papyrus said that “the other human has been shocked into silence” and you sit bolt upright, searching yourself for your phone.

“Shit,” You hiss as you realize you’re still in your pajamas and your phone is tucked neatly under your pillow, and off.  You don’t have any means of communication on you.

“where’s the fire?” Sans asks, opening a sleepy eye to look up at you from his resting position.

“Allie!!  Papyrus said she, I dunno, got so scared by you fucking taking me out of existence and up to here in front of her that she went dead silent!  And Undyne was still there and yelling!!  I mean, I don’t do well in those situations anyways and Allie’s pretty good at them all things considered but when you watch your best friend disappear right in front of you with zero warning or explanation you kinda get scared shitless and right now I don’t know if she’s okay or if my house is okay or if anyone back there is okay and-”

“whoa, whoa, slow down.” Sans chuckles, rising to a sitting position and tapping your shoulder to ground you back into reality.  “okay, so when we left things were a little … chaotic.  but it’s been like, four hours now.  it has to have calmed down.  do you want me to text pap or …?”

Oh.  You were hoping to maybe call Allie with his phone but you don’t want to be rude.  He’s already done so much for you, literally removing you from a dangerous situation, you suppose you shouldn’t press.  Burgerpants is still napping, blissfully unaware of your conversation.

“Yeah … yeah sure, I’d appreciate that.”

 Sans furrows his brow, “you sure?  you hesitated a bit there.”

“Yeah, no, it’s fine.” You curl your knees up to your chest, now feeling even more embarrassed. Damn it, why were you so easy to read?!

He frowns and pauses for a moment as if thinking.  He opens his mouth, closes it again, and then tries, “did … did you want to use my phone to call allie or something?  you can do that if you want.”

“I-I didn’t want to be rude or impose,” You admit with a shaky laugh.

“nah.  here, have at.”  Sans tosses you his phone and goes back to laying on the ground and you smile down at him.

“… Thanks.”

“no prob.”

Sans’ phone is easy enough to navigate and you quickly call up Allie.  It takes her one … two … three rings to pick up.

“Sans?!” Her startled voice crackles through the phone, it must be old. Burgerpants jumps from here he’s sleeping, eyes wide and looking around for what startled him.  “Sans what the hell was that, where did you take ______?!  And how dare you leave your brother, Tori, and me to deal with all this shit?! If Alphys couldn’t get Undyne to calm down what made you think Papyrus could?!!”

“Uh … hi Allie …” You gulp nervously.  Sans doesn’t seem to notice and Burgerpants realizes you’re calling your friend so he leaves you be.

“… ______?  Oh god I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to yell at you!  Are you okay?  What happened?  Where did Sans take you?  When I get my hands on that bag of bones he’ll have to play 52 pick up with all his bones all over the city!!  Only it’ll be 206 pick up instead!!  Did he hurt you?!”

“H-hurt me?  Oh god no, Sans has been the best!  See, I don’t know if Papyrus told you, but I guess Sans can teleport?  Sorta?  He says it’s more complicated than that but I don’t fully understand … I mean I didn’t ask cause I thought it’d be rude but-” You hear a muffled snort as Sans turns his skull away from you, as though he weren’t listening in on your conversation.

“… Aren’t you using Sans’ phone?” Allie asks, barely able to hide the giggle in her voice.

“Yep.” You face palm.  “Right my bad.  Sorrry Allie.  Sorry Sans.”

“Hey, it’s no biggie, don’t worry about it.” She replies, still sounding too giddy about it for her own good and Sans just gives a lazy shrug.

“Right … sorry.”

“You gotta stop apologizing so much,” Allie teases.  “Hey, so, where did you go?  Papyrus said Sans didn’t say …”

You hesitate a moment, “… Is Undyne still there?”

She laughs, “Ahaha no.  She left hours ago.  I think once Papyrus held her down with his magic, by the way did you know he could do that?  He’s super powerful, it’s so cool.  Anyway, he was able to hold her down long enough for Alphys to get her to listen and calm down.  Toriel helped calm her too, made some tea.  Undyne really loves tea apparently, one of the best ways to get her to settle down.  She’s still wicked pissed at you, but she’s willing to give you a chance and to listen about your nightmare.  We didn’t tell her or Alphys what it was since we were afraid it’d feed the fire more and we kinda figured you’d want to tell them on your own terms.  But you should do it soon.”

“Right,” You sigh.  “Well, thank you for taking care of that.  I’m so sorry Sans and me suddenly leaving like that scared you so much.  I had no idea he was going to do that, could even do that!  But, to answer your question we’re on Mt. Ebott.”

“You’re WHERE?!”

“Yeah, Mt. Ebott.  Right at the entrance, where monsters first exited the underground.  Sans figured it was far enough away that Undyne wouldn’t come looking for us here and it’s … actually really pretty up here.  We should have a picnic sometime!”

“That would be awesome!  Under happier circumstances of course.”

“Haha yeah.  Really rather come up here when I haven’t had a bad episode.  Just to come up here and relax and chill, you know?”

“Yeah … speaking of, when did you say you were supposed to get back to work?  I know you mentioned that Tiana said you had the whole week off but it’s Sunday now.  Does that mean you go to work on Monday or do you get till Tuesday?  Or would it be Wednesday?”

You freeze up for a moment. “Oh … oh god I hadn’t thought about that.  Oh fuck I don’t know, shit, Tiana’s gonna kill me!”

“Hey, hey, chill,” she laughs softly.  “I don’t think Tiana would do that.  Especially not since you got, like, god father’d at work!  Only with like, goat parts instead of a horse head.”

“Allie that’s gross.”

“It’s what happened!!  Sorta!  But listen, if you need to call Tiana and take a couple more days off to get back on your feet I’m sure it’ll be no big.  When was the last time you took a vacation from work anyway?  Or used your sick days?”

“… A while …”

“It’s been months, hasn’t it?”

“Look I didn’t need to take those days off!” You pout. “I wasn’t sick, I don’t have anything to do at the house, it’s not like I had a bunch of friends to hang out with or family to be with or … or …”

“Hey hey hey, shh.  It’s okay, I’m not mad.  No one’s mad, we’re all happy here, okay?”

You sniffle, “… Okay.”

“Atta girl.  So, Tori left because she had to go to a school meeting and pick up Frisk later and Papyrus and I stuck around.  We changed your bed for you and cleaned up things a little.  Are you gonna come home any time soon?”

“Oh, gosh, Allie, you didn’t have to do that!”

“Honey your sheets smelled like a dead rat that’s been baking in the sun for three weeks.  Yes we did.”

“Wow, way to boost my confidence,” you snort and she just giggles.

“Okay, it wasn’t that bad.  It wasn’t bad at all, really, we just thought you might like some new fresh sheets to sleep in.”

“Well, thank you for doing that anyways,” you sigh with a soft chuckle.  “I guess … wow, how long have we been out here?”

“Well … considering that it’s 4:30ish now … over five hours.  You’ve been out over five hours.”

“Oh shit!  We just lost track of time, I’m so sorry!  We weren’t really keeping an eye on the clock and –” You’re interrupted by her laughter.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!  So, since it’s nearing dinner time and it’s past lunch, I’m assuming he got you some food?” Her tone is almost accusatory but you know it’s more directed at Sans than anything.

“Oh, yeah, he did.  We didn’t go down to the city or anything, he actually called Burgerpants.  Remember him?  He was that cat I went on a date with a while ago.  Burgerpants brought up some food for us, we had a nice picnic.”

She hums, “Well isn’t that sweet.  Look at you, gettin all the boys to be takin care of youuu.  You gotta be some kinda pimp or something-”

“Oh my god Allie!”

“I’m teasing, I’m teasing!” She laughs whole heartedly.  “But seriously, come home soon?  And call your boss, maybe talk with Undyne and Alphys within the next day or two.”

“Yeah … yeah I should do that.” You give a defeated sigh and twirl some grass by your feet with your free hand.  “I’m kinda thinking … hell I’m on sort of a roll with letting out my feelings and talking, I don’t wanna clam up and lose my will to say anything to them.  Do you think maybe they’d be open to dinner or something?  We could go out, I-I’d pay of course …”

“I think that would be great!  Toriel even wanted to invite you over for dinner so you could have a nice home cooked meal.  Maybe Undyne and Alphys owe her a visit?”

“Yeah, maybe … I’ll talk it out with all of them, see what happens.”

“Sure thing.  We’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay.  Thanks Allie.” You smile, your heart feels genuinely warm.

“You’re welcome!  And hey, looks like you got to go out on a date with Sans after all!”  You can hear the laughter in her voice, she’s enjoying herself with this way too much.

“Allie he is right there!!  This is not a date!!” You hiss, stealing a glance over to Sans.  He seems to be asleep and not aware of the conversation.  You really hope he didn’t hear any of that.

“Sure it isn’t.  I mean it’s not like he whisked you off your feet or anything.”

“Oh my god.”

“But he totally did though.”

“Allie shut up.”

“Okay I’ll see you at your house!  Bye!”  You heard the other line click and resisted every urge to yell into the phone about how this was definitely not a date situation thing and she shouldn’t be making jokes like that.

Sighing you turned to Sans, who was still sleeping.  Burgerpants was stretching like he’d just woken up, but he looked a little flustered.  You hoped he hadn’t heard anything about what Allie said.  You gently shook Sans with one hand and murmured, “Hey, Sans, you awake in there.”

“mmhmm.  thinkin about headin back home?” He gave a sleepy yawn, not bothering to hold out his hand for his phone or ask for it back.

“Yeah … it’s kinda after 4:30 I guess?  We really spent a long time out here …”

“huh.  guess we did.” Sans yawned and stretched one arm upward, crossing the other behind his head. You still had no idea why a skeleton would even need to stretch, he didn’t even have muscles to stretch!

Burgerpants sat up suddenly, “Oh!  Did, uh, did you guys want me to drive you down the mountain or would did you wanna take Sans’ weird way back home?”

Sans huffed, “s’not weird …”

You gave your skeleton friend a small smile of assurance and pat his shoulder, then turned to Burgerpants. “Um, I dunno … I do know that I wanna talk to Undyne and Alphys soon ... about … everything … but I wanna make sure I know what to say.  I think I might need a little time to think about what I’m going to say … sometimes car rides help me think.  Burgerpants, would you mind driving me down the mountain at least?  You don’t have to drive me to my house, I know that’s farther away …”

“Oh no, not a trouble at all!” He purrs, sitting up straight and the tip of his tail twitching.  “I can drive you right to your house or whatever.  You’ve had so much shit to deal with lately, I don’t mind helping in anyway.  Sans, do you wanna drive down with us or will we see you later?”

“mm, i think i’ll meet you up at the house.  i should make sure pap is okay.  probably should take him out to his favorite Italian restaurant as thanks for dealin with undyne.” Sans shrugs, then turns to you with a lazy grin.  “unless you want me to stick around or anything …?”

“You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want,” you give a nervous laugh.  “I mean, you’ve already done so much.  I really can’t thank you and the others enough for coming to get me and make sure I’m okay.”

Sans chuckled and shook his head, “man, one of these days you’ve really gotta learn to just say what you want instead of just beating around the bush and hoping someone gets it.  you can’t be so avoidant.”

Something in those last few words struck a chord with you and your back straightened but you avoided Sans’ gaze.

“I know.  Sorry.”

He gave you a quizzical look then shrugged. “whatever.  you don’t have anything to be sorry for pal.  but i’ll see you later, okay?  text me if you get _bonely._ ”

It took you a moment to understand the joke but realization slowly creeped in and you laughed, “Haha, I will.  Thank you Sans.”

“anytime.”

And with that he stepped forward into nothingness.  You assumed he must’ve popped back to your house to check up on Papyrus like he had said earlier.  Burgerpants motions for you to follow him down the trail to his car.  It’s a small, clunky and frankly abused car.  That poor thin has probably seen better days.

“It’s a bit of a clunker,” he admits shyly before turning to the passenger door and struggling to open it. “But uh, you, ergh, knew that already, didn’t you?  Right, I’m huff, sorry I totally forgot I drove you, urg, the other day.  I think I still – ha got it!” He yanks the door open finally and gracefully bows with a swooping gesture to usher you into the car.  It’s all rather endearing and you can’t help but giggle as you slip in, thanking him again for the ride and the food.

“Not a problem,” he shrugs, giving the door a good slam once you’re seated all the way in. He jiggled the handle for a moment just to make sure that it’s shut firmly.  “Anyway, I think I still kinda remember where you live?  But you might need to guide me there.”

“Sure thing, and thank you so much again.  I know, I’m a broken record but you guys have been seriously amazing and –”

He laughs as he finally gets into the driver’s seat, clicking the seatbelt into place.  You remember to do the same.  “Don’t worry about it.  We’re all happy to help.”

You smile and nod, settling back into the not-so-comfy seat.  Well, this was you can be sure you won’t fall asleep.  Now you needed to concentrate on what to say to Alphys and Undyne …

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again friends!! Than you all so much for your patience, the lvely kudos, bookmarks, and comments. Seriously, you all are so amazing!! I love you all <3 I feel kinda bad that this chapter wasn't as plot-heavy as it could have been but it's nice to take it slow sometimes.
> 
> In case I don't get out a chapter before I leave I want to warn you all beforehand: I'll be going on a family vacation from August 12-20, so that means absolutely no updates between then. I won't have access to the internet but you can bet your ass I'll be working on the story while I'm away! There shall be lots of story planning and chapter writing if I have anything to say about it!!
> 
> Take care lovelies, and feel free to say hi at my [tumbl](https://thycora.tumblr.com/)r!


	15. Confessions and Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You invite Alphys and Undyne out to dinner to reveal the nightmare.

The trip back to your house was uneventful, you spent a majority of your time planning and overthinking on what you’d even say to Undyne and Alphys in the first place, how you might say it, how well they might take it (or not).  You hadn’t said more than a few words to Burgerpants once you’d finally gotten down the mountain.  He finally coaxed you out of your shell enough to talk and you explained all your worries.  He listened patiently, you could see glimmers of bitterness dash across his face whenever you talked about how Alphys had murdered you in your dream.  Burgerpants actually offered you some advice, mostly just to be straight up honest with them and not avoid anything.  In more recent years he’d come to appreciate a sense of honesty, but also humility.  He was positive that you could embody both traits if you just tried.

“Monsters tend to be more forgiving than they should be,” he had laughed nervously.  “Undyne can’t hold a grudge forever, and if you can convince Alphys that you would never think that way about her, that it was just your subconscious being an ass … I think it’ll be okay.  So take care, buddy.”

The sentiment was sweet, and you spent the next hour planning on what to say, bouncing some ideas off on Burgerpants.  Eventually you arrived home with Allie and Papyrus happy to see you once again.  You said farewell to Burgerpants and thanked him for the ride and all the advice.  He was a lot better at it than he gave himself credit for, you told him.  He just blushed, muttered something under his breath, and drove off.

Papyrus and Allie happily gave you hugs upon your return home, and Sans just waved lazily at you from the couch.  You thanked all three of them again for the hard work they did, Papyrus in particular for calming down Undyne enough to make sure she didn’t break anything and calmly left your place.

“… But now, I think I have to face her.” You said with a sigh.

“Well, geeze,” snorted Allie.  “You make it sound as though you’re heading to a ‘final judgement’ or something.”

Sans snorted at the line and you huffed, “Well, I might as well be!!  I did some really … awful stuff.”

“It wasn’t you,” she reminded you gently with a pat on the shoulder. “That was just your dark thoughts … they aren’t you, remember that.”

You took a deep calming breath in and then slowly released it.  “I know, thank you.  I think I’m gonna call Undyne and Alphys now and ask them out to dinner, take them wherever they want to go and explain.  Oh gosh I hope they haven’t eaten yet …”

“Sometimes they get distracted by long marathons of anime,” Papyrus assured you.  “I think there’s still a chance.  And I know you can do it, human!!  Undyne will forgive you, and so will Alphys!

“How can you be so sure?” You laughed nervously.

“The Great Papyrus is never wrong!!  And he always knows his friends best.  True Undyne is … rather furious with you.  But after hearing everything, with Alphys too at the same time I think, it’ll be okay.”  He gave you a gentle smile and you couldn’t help but smile back.

“Thanks, Papyrus.  I really appreciate it.  I’m gonna go make that phone call now, you guys can head out or whatever, I don’t really care.”

You began to dart up to your room while Allie, Papyrus, and Sans chatted amongst themselves.  You quickly snuck inside and checked under your pillow.  There it was, right where you left it.  And still off.  You winced as you turned it back on and notifications came blaring at you about missed calls and missed messages.  You’d have to sort through them all later.  Right now … you had some people to apologize to.

Your finger must’ve hesitated over the call button for at least five minutes before you finally just forced yourself to do it.  You had decided to call Alphys first since she sorta seemed like she might be willing to listen to you earlier this morning.  The phone had barely rung once before she picked up.

“H-h-hello?  __-______?  Is th-that you?” Her nervous voice crackled over the receiver.

“Hey Alphys,” you sighed, defeated.   “Yeah, it’s me … listen, I am so so sorry about what happened to you and just not contacting you or anyone or –”

“Oh, haha, n-no, it’s fine!  It’s f-fine, I know you didn’t m-m-mean any harm-”

“But I did hurt you!” You protested, and Alphys went silent for a moment.  You sighed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.  But I’m sorry about everything.  I’m sorry about the panic attacks, I’m sorry that you got so upset, that I just ignored you and everyone else, that Undyne got so furious with me … I am so so sorry.”

You hesitated a moment, waiting to hear something, anything, from the other end but no sound came.  You supposed Alphys was composing herself and took in and released another slow breath, trying to calm yourself.

“I wanna make it up to you, both of you.  You and Undyne.”

“Wh …?  _-___-_____ you don’t ha-ave to do that-”

“I want to tell you what happened.  I don’t know how much the others might’ve told you, but I wanted to tell you about the nightmare.  Tell both of you.  To try and explain … I know it doesn’t excuse any of my behavior and I was wrong to lock myself away for such a long time but … I feel like you need to know.  You and Undyne, especially since I was so afraid of telling you earlier.  I understand if after you don’t want to be my … my friend anymore.”

The line went silent for another long moment, and this time you decided to wait.  You were started to get concerned that the call dropped when Alphys suddenly responded, “Are you s-sure?”

You sighed, thankful.  “Yeah. Yeah I’m sure.  I was thinking I could take you guys out to dinner tonight wherever you wanted, my treat.  I can tell you what happened and you can make the decision of whether to stick around or not.  I won’t force you to listen to me … I’d just like to get the chance.”

“… Let me talk with Undyne.” Alphys said.  She almost sounded resentful, but a part of her sounded like it might be hopeful too.

You could hear distant murmurings in the background, Alphys hadn’t put you on hold but at least Undyne was far enough away that you couldn’t exactly understand what she was yelling.  You felt your heart drop, this was a bad idea, a very bad idea, Undyne was going to hate you forever and so would Alphys and there’d be no possible way to ever make it up to them –

“Do you kn-know Ko Kaen?  The new Jap-apanese restaurant?” Alphys voice broke through your thoughts, and for a moment you couldn’t speak.  Were they really …?

“Yes!  Yes, I heard about it!  I haven’t been, I know they just set up shop a couple of months ago, but yes!  Would you guys like to go there?”

You could hear the smirk in her voice, “Meet us there in half an hour.”

“I will!  Alphys, thank you.  Thank you so so much, this means the world to me, I really can’t thank you enough, I-”

But she just laughed, “______, it’s o-okay.  Undyne’s a lot calmer now, I p-promise.  She was worried too, you know.”

You give a weak laugh, “I don’t see how, but okay.  Thank you again.  And tell Undyne I said thank you too!”

“I will.  See you there.”

“See ya.”

And with that the conversation was done.  You sighed in relief, it was finally over!  Well … the starting part was over.  You darted over to your dresser, looking for some nice clothes to wear.  You knew you had to change, fast, and you could probably squeeze in a quick rinse so you didn’t totally smell.  Once you were finished with all that business you hurtled yourself downstairs and out the door, barely stopping to say goodbye to your houseguests.  Pap and Sans were on their way to the Italian restaurant and had asked Allie to join them.  Well, it was mostly at Pap’s insistence since she had a rough day and Sans couldn’t disagree.  You let them know the plan to go to Ko Kaen’s and that you’d tell them how it went once the meal was over.  You each stepped into your respective cars, said your goodbyes, and went your separate ways.

________________

You were standing outside of the restaurant, just shy of five minutes before Alphys said for you to get there.  You were a nervous wreck, tugging on the edges of your deep dark skirt with pastel pink flowers.  It reached just below your knees and was matched by a nice magenta blouse with a cute little bow near the neckline.  Glancing over your outfit again you really hoped you weren’t overdoing it, you just wanted to make a nice impression on Alphys and Undyne and look good for the restaurant.  You knew it wasn’t an overly fabulous rich place (like you’d ever have the funding to go someplace like that, ha!) but it was a very nice establishment.

The sound of two people walking your way snapped you out of your thoughts and you whirled around to meet them.  Undyne was wearing a bright red flannel shirt and black pants, where Alphys was in a cute light blue dress.

“Undyne!  Alphys!  I’m so glad you came, I am so so sorry-”

“If I hear you say sorry one more time I’m gonna lose it,” Undyne growled and you gulped, nodding.  It took a lot of willpower not to reflexively say sorry, but you’d gotten used to stopping that once someone told you to.  “So … you have some explaining to do …?”

“Yeah … yeah I do … come on, let’s go pick a table.  This meal’s on me, so get what you want.” You gave a resigned sigh and opened the door for them.  Alphys whispered a polite thank you while Undyne grunted and just barreled her way through.  Walking in the atmosphere was bright, friendly and warm.  But something seemed different, more unusual …

You realized that you were surrounded by monsters.  Everywhere.

Okay not everywhere, there were a couple of humans, they were mostly young, either your age or a little below.  They caught sight of you and waved, along with a couple other monsters.  They looked like they had … error images for heads.  Diamond like heads, part black and part another color.  Their faces flickered slowly at you before picking up pace and the customers around you smiled, assuring you that was a friendly gesture.  Seeing so many monsters in one place made you … uncomfortable to say the least.  You really weren’t used to monster establishments, but to Undyne’s credit she’d chosen a seat in the far back away from the others.  You were thankful, you weren’t sure how keen you were on sharing your monster-murder dreams in a place full of monsters.  She and Alphys waved you over once they caught sight of you and you wasted no time in sitting down to join their booth.

“I-I didn’t know there’d be so many monsters,” you laughed nervously.  Undyne glowered at you.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She growled and you could feel the embarrassment claw its way through your face.  If things continued the way they were … you were sure to have a miserable evening.

“N-nothing!!  I-I’m sorry, I’m, just not used to seeing so many … new faces!”

“Right, like monster faces,” Undyne huffed, flipping the menu up to cover her face.

Alphys gave her girlfriend a gentle slap on the arm, “Undyne!  Don’t be rude!”

“She started it.” Undyne grumbled.

“W-well don’t finish it!  Or I will!”

The tall woman straightened her back and looked down at Alphys, fixing her with her one good eye.  The yellow iris bore into her, but Alphys would not back down and puffed some air from her noise in defiance.  Undyne’s grimace twitched, then broke into a large smile as she began to laugh and wrap her arms around her girlfriend.

“That’s what I love about you, sweetie!” She plopped a big wet kiss on the cute dinosaur’s head, giving an extra ‘mua’ for emphasis. “You never give up!  Never back down!”

“Heheh, that’s me.” Alphys chuckled weakly before leaning up to give Undyne a quick peck on the cheek.  She nuzzled into Undyne once more before settling back in her seat, “S-so, ______, have you b-been here before?”

“Uh, no, not really …” You admitted.  “I, uh, guess I get anxious about trying new things without friends and since I didn’t exactly have a bunch to go to places with … yeah.”

“Pfft, you don’t need friends to go with you to check out new places!  You just go!” Laughed Undyne, setting down her menu.  “I know what I want babe, the usual.  You?”

“Undyne you are not ordering all of their sushi.” Alphys said flatly and you did your best to hold back a graceless snort.

“But it works in the anime!!”

“This is not an anime!!”

“Not with that attitude!”

Alphys gave Undyne another playful punch and you smiled.  The two were really cute and perfect together.  While the two continued to bicker back and forth you glanced over your menu.  If you were really being truthful you hadn’t been to a Japanese restaurant in years.  Not because you didn’t like the food or anything, you just … kind of forgot to.  You saw that they had miso soup and decided to go with that option.

“I-I was thinking about the miso soup …” You began, nervous.  Undyne and Alphys stopped their antics long enough to glance your way and smile back.

“Pfft, that soup is so tame.  But it’s a classic, I guess I can’t blame you.” She grinned back at you, you swore her teeth were getting bigger with every grin.  “I think I’m gonna try the super spicy tuna roll tonight.  I think I’m ready for the highest level.”

“U-Undyne you puked the second we g-got back home!! And that was the ‘hard’ level!” Alphys squeaked.

“Yeah, good times,” Undyne sighed, looking dreamily into the distance.

A cute little flame woman bounced over to your table and gave a quick bow to the couple, “Alphys-san!  Undyne-san!  It’s so good to see you two again!  Who’s this?”

“Th-this is ______, she’s the librarian we met a while back.”

“Ah, I’ve heard such nice things!  Oh, and the unfortunate event that happened to you.  Gomen nasi, ______-san.  Do you all know what you’d like to order yet?”  The green flame-woman gave you a quick bow and you blushed, dipping your head in turn.  She didn’t sound much older than you.

“I-I’d just like the fried calamari and seaweed salad, oh, with a side of steamed shumai if th-that’s okay.”

“Always!  And Undyne?”

“Super spicy tuna roll.  Make it a Level ALPHA SUN!!”

“U-Undyne!”

“Huhuhuhu, I must warn you Undyne-san, no one has ever bested that.” The flame girl said with a sweet smile.  You noted her cute school girl uniform and wondered if the rest of the staff were dressed similarly.

“I never give up!! I will be the first!!! I WILL DEFEAT IT!!” She roared, proudly banging her fists on her chest.

“Huhuhu, as you wish.  And for you, ______-san?”

“Just a simple miso soup would be nice,” You smiled shyly back at her and she dipped her head.

“Of course!  Oh, and I’m Supāku by the way.”

“Her real name is Sparky!” Someone from the restaurant called out and a chorus of laughs joined in.  Supāku pouted, the little tips of flames on her head growing brighter.

“Is not!!” She stomped her foot, turning to face the crowd.  Whoever had called out that embarrassing name didn’t reveal themselves, but the rest of the people kept laughing and it put you more at ease.  Monsters sure were a lot nicer than you expected.  You had expected some hostility; it was only natural since you were painfully aware of what your entire race did to theirs.  Supāku turned around with a sigh and told you that your orders would be over shortly and that Budōnoki would be your waitress of the night.

You spent the next few minutes chatting easily with Undyne and Alphys who both seem to have forgotten why you asked them to come out here in the first place.  You weren’t entirely ungrateful, it gave you more time to prepare exactly what you were going to say and if you were perfectly honest you’d like the distraction of food just in case things got rough.

Your meals came out surprisingly quick though, save for Undyne’s.  There was still a bit of work to be done to get it just the right spicy level.  Alphys had rolled her eyes at her girlfriend once again but it wasn’t another minute or so before Undyne’s plate arrived.  Everything looked absolutely delicious, and so authentic!  You made a point to tell the waitress, Budōnoki was it?, that you really appreciated the meal.  She huffed a small thank you and muttered something along the lines of ‘whatever gets me out of school’.  You couldn’t help but stare a bit at that comment, since she was wearing a typical school uniform and all.  Deciding not to overthink it, you turned back to your meal, picking at it delicately with your chopsticks.

“… So …” You tentatively began, unsure of how to start.  And here you had all this time to plan and you still didn’t know what you were doing!

“… So?” Alphys echoed, giving you a patient smile.

You sighed and looked down, swirling some of the seaweed around.  “I don’t know.  I really don’t know where to begin.  I guess the nightmare is first obviously and how it all started, but … ha.” You brought a hand to your face, trying to swipe back tears. “I-I’m so … so sc-scared that you guys will h-h-hate me forever, ha,h-ha ha.  N-not that I’d b-blame you or anything.  I-I’d hate me t-too.  Heh.  St-still do.”

Concern furrowed the dinosaur’s brow and she reached a scaly arm across the table to place her hand on yours.  “T-take your time,” she said softly.  “I know how that feels.”  She squeezed your hand and you squeezed back, smiling through the tears.

“Thanks.”

“Of course.”

Undyne watched you quietly, slowly taking bites of her own dish.  The tuna rolls certainly looked like something to be reckoned with.  After a shaky inhale and finally releasing your breath, you began to retell your dream.

“So … ah, Undyne, it started with you and Papyrus, I think?”

“Me?  Heh, nice, glad to know I’m at the forefront of this dream.”  She grinned, slurping down a whole roll and gnashing her sharp teeth together, on purpose to intimidate you probably.

“Heh, yeah.  We were running the three of us, but you guys went ahead.  I couldn’t call out to you so I just kinda accepted defeat … and then, ha ha, this next part is silly, but you know how Mew Mew got her powers?  With the cat?  Yeah, that happened.”

Undyne began howling with laughter, “THIS is what your nightmare is about?!  Alphys, can you believe this?! Ahahaaa what a NERD!!!”

You clenched your teeth and gripped the chopsticks tighter, your wrist bouncing with anxiety.  “That’s ... not … please …”

“Okay, okay,” she sighed, wiping a tear from her working eye.  “I’m sorry that was too hilarious to pass up.  Go on.”

You tried releasing your chopsticks and looked down at your hands, curling your fingers to your palm and folding them back out.  Your nails left small impressions in your palms.  This was the part where you feared they’d walk out on you, but neither made a move to leave.  They simply watched with patience and kindness.

“I … It wasn’t as nice as th-that … Undyne please, u-understand … I have ni-nightmares on a weekly b-basis.  I sw-swear these thoughts aren’t m-me, they can’t be me b-b-but … but god I dreamt su-such horib-b-ble thing-g-gs …”

Undyne stopped and reached across the table to place a hand on your shoulder, “Hey, dude, it’s okay.  I didn’t mean to scare you I just … shit.” She sighed and sat back in the booth.  “Just … go on ahead.  We’ll listen.”  Alphys nodded quickly, barely poking at her own food.  You sighed and nodded.

“So … heh, I turned into Mew Mew, right?  D-dream come true, huh?  B-but … but but I was so terrible fuck I … you can’t t-tell Kane, you c-can’t.  Please, promise me, p-promise me you won’t.”

“We won’t,” Alphys said softly and you let out a broken laugh.

“Heh ... I t-told Kane … t-told him to … t-to … to k-kill himself.  And he did.  I got to w-watch him d-do it and I’m su-u-u-uch a horrible p-p-person, I’m s-s-sorry!” You were barely able to hide the water works.  You didn’t think anyone was paying attention to you, and if they were they at least pretended they weren’t.

“Oh … oh god, ______ I’m so s-sorry, I-I had no idea …” Alphys began, covering her mouth with her claws to hide her shock.

“Shit … I, uh, I mean I’ve had dark dreams too but …” Undyne’s single eye rested on you.  “This isn’t over, is it?”

You shook your head, squeezing your eyes shut.  “N-no … no it’s n-not …  Alphys …” You looked up to her, pleading.  “Alphys please … p-please believe me, I kn-know this isn’t y-y-you, but my stupid f-fucking thoughts … they got ah-head of me and … a-and I …”  You suckedin a deep breath, then let it go.  “I dreamt that you m-m-murdered me.  F-for being Mew M-Mew and abusing my p-powers.  I st-still remember the kn-knife … my st-stomach …”

Alphys and Undyne sat in quiet shocked silence, neither of which sure what to do.  You bowed your head waiting for anything, for yelling, slapping, punching, leaving, anything.  You had finally spilled to them that somewhere some part of you thought of the idea of Alphys murdering you.

“I-I was so sc-scared,” You continued, fighting back the tears as best you could.  “Scare y-you’d f-find out, s-scared, you’d h-hate m-m-me.   B-but I’m o-okay with th-that now, I r-really … really am … s-s-sorry …”

There was a long pause of silence.  You heard Alphys and Undyne put down their utensils and get up from their seats.  At least they were going to quietly leave without insulting you.  It would be better this way.

You were surprised to find strong hands pulling you out of the booth seat and then hugging you close while another pair of strong, slender arms wrapped around you.  You hiccupped softly, tears spilling from your eyes. You didn’t understand … how could they …?  You didn’t understand …

“I-it’s okay,” Alphys whispered into your ear, tugging you closer.  “Th-that wasn’t y-you.  Or me.  J-just a dream.  I forgive you.”

“I mean … I’ve watched people die before … when I’ve slept …” Undyne muttered.  “But … it’s so rare to see myself die … and at the hands of a friend, that would never happen …” She sighed.  “I understand why you were afraid.  But you don’t have to be, okay?  We’re gonna be here to support you.  You don’t have to face these nightmares alone.”

How … how could they have this much kindness?  This faith in you, that you didn’t even have in you?  You just clung to them tighter, too afraid to let go and lose this support you were afraid you’d never have.  Your hiccupping sobs were muffled as you buried your face in her neck, seeking comfort.  She slowly patted your back while Undyne smoothed down your hair, holding both of you close.

After a few moments the fish woman coughed, your sobs having mostly faded at this point.  “We, uh, maybe should sit back down.”

You nodded wearily, thanking them again and shifted back into your seat.  You could hardly believe it had gone over so well!  You expected Undyne to still be furious, to not want to listen to a word you had to say, but here you were, enjoying a nice meal with her and her girlfriend.  It was truly something special, something kind.

Undyne wasn’t able to get through half of her meal, having to dash towards the restroom like a madwoman.  Alphys had simply scooted out of her way, laughed and said “I told you so!”  You were torn between laughing at her pride and being frightened for her stomach.  You and Alphys ended up doing the latter, rushing in after her to make sure she was okay.  Undyne did end up making a small mess, but the staff assured you it was nothing they hadn’t seen before.  By the time you returned to the table to pay for the food, you’d found it had already been paid!  The two diamond heads you’d seen earlier had seen your plight and offered to cover the meal.  They were just about to leave and you made sure to send them off with many thank yous and apologies if you disturbed their meal.  They just shook their heads and the graphics jittered, as though they were laughing.  The two mad either way out the door and soon you, Alphys, and a very haphazard looking Undyne followed.  You said good bye to them and thank them over and over for their kindness and patience with you.

Poor Undyne could hardly stand on her feet, and Alphys knew this night wasn’t going to be easy on her.  She asked if you wanted to sleep over for the night, just for comfort and to maybe help Undyne if she really needed the assistance.  At first you couldn’t hardly believe your ears, and you thought about politely rejecting the offer when Undyne moaned pitifully into her girlfriend’s neck.

“Sure thing, Alphys.  You sure Undyne won’t mind?” You gave a soft giggle and Alphys hummed in response.

“She’s not in the m-mood to mind anything, are you sweetie?”

“My everyything hurttssssss …”

“Poor baby.” Alphys smooched the top of her head.  “Go ahead and scoot home for s-some pjs, clothes for tomorrow and whatever else you need.  Give me a t-text once you’re at our house, I might not hear you over … this p-pitiful mess.”

“Mmmnot a messshhh,” the fish warrior slurred her words and you and Alphys exchanged an amused glance.

“S-see you back at the house.  And t-take care, okay?  Don’t want you to g-get lost or anything.”

“Will do.”

And with that you skipped happily back to your car, excited to text Alplie, Sans and Papyrus about how everything went.  You briefly remembered how Toriel wanted you over for dinner at some point, and you figured that could wait a little.  For now … you were content.  Things were still uncertain with your nightmares on the loose, but with Undyne and Alphys’ help … perhaps they wouldn’t be so bad anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo!! I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to get this out before my vacation, but I did!! This chapter got a bit longer tahn usual, sorry. I thought about closing out the first half, but it didn't quite sit right with me. I hope you still enjoyed everything!! I was very nervous about writing Undyne and Alphys in this, I wanted them to stay as true to their characters as I could ... I hope it worked!! Any critique is welcome :33
> 
> And final reminder of my family vaca, I'm gonna be out August 12-20 with no internet access. This doesn't mean the story's coming to a halt, it just means I won't be able to update between then. But I'll be bringing my laptop and docs with me so I can still work!!
> 
> As always, thank you so so so much for all your wonderful comments, the amazing kudos and lovely bookmarks <3 Yall are amazing, and I'm happy to talk at my tumblr [Thycora](https://thycora.tumblr.com/)


	16. Sleepover Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finish your sleepover with Undyne and Alphys, only to find that everyone else wants you over at their house too!

Your dream wasn’t terribly significant that night, something about being lost in a cafeteria with an old ex trailing after you with a bloody axe.  He seemed to be bleeding that same sauce used on Undyne’s meal earlier, he kept calling out to you for something but you couldn’t quite understand him.  There had been a couple of close calls where he’d almost lopped off your head but somehow you managed to dodge out of the way.  You never could seem to get the weapon away from him, and if you were being truthful you didn’t really think to either.

You awoke in the spare guest room of Undyne and Alphy’s home, a tremor of fear creeping through your chest but nothing out of the ordinary.  Not all of your bad dreams led to feelings like this, but they were frequent enough that you figured it was just a side effect and nothing to worry about.  After changing into your day clothes you headed downstairs to greet Undyne and Alphys in the dining room, both of whom were staring at you with wide eyes.

“… What?  Is there something on my face?” You put a hand up to your cheek, maybe you drooled and there was some gross residue on your face?

“Dude, you _screamed_ last night!” Undyne said, her eye wide with disbelief.

“It wasn’t th-that loud,” Alphys huffed.  “I didn’t hear it, b-but Undyne insisted you did a r-really soft scream and demanded that we check on you.  But you were s-sleeping so peacefully, and when we called your n-name, you just kept sleeping!  I-I figured you were going to be okay b-but … did you have another n-nightmare?”

You blushed and ducked your hand into your palm. “Oh, sorry about that guys.  I’ve been known to do that before.  I did that exact same thing to a roommate once in college, freaked her the hell out!”  You gave a soft chuckle. “But, um, I guess it was a kind of bad dream/nightmare thing … there was an old cafeteria … an old ex boyfriend I think?  He had a bloody axe, only it was covered in that sauce you had, Undyne, on your food last night, and he was trying to kill me.  He almost got me a couple times, I must’ve screamed at one of those.  I didn’t mean to worry you, sorry.”

“Dude no that’s fine,” Undyne sits up from her plate. You note that she looks a lot better from when you saw her last night. “But holy shit? You just almost get killed in your dream a couple of times, scream and then don’t wake up or remember it?”

“I guess?” You shrugged, unsure of what she wanted you to say or do.  “Like I said last night, this is kinda normal for me so I guess I don’t see the big deal.  But I didn’t mean to disturb you or anything.”

Undyne huffs, “Having dreams like that every night shouldn’t be normal.  The hell is wrong with you?”

“Undyne!” Alphys snaps, giving her girlfriend a small smack on the shoulder.

“Ugh, no, I didn’t mean it like that.” She slaps a hand to her forehead.  “Shit, I’m sorry, let me start over.  Do … urgh, do you have any idea why the hell you keep having these awful crazy nightmares all the time?”

You shrugged in response, trying to ignore the stinging self-deprecation at the back of your mind.  “Mm dunno, my therapist has suggested it’s my anxiety so I guess that would make sense.”

“H-how long have you been having these, if y-you don’t mind me asking?” Alphys asked, her voice squeaking with nervousness.

“It’s fine,” you laugh.  “Since about middle school-ish?  What is it now, that’s like … over 15 years I guess?”

“Dude holy shit.”

“H-holy shit.”

Undyne gawked, shook her head and then motioned for you to come sit down. “And you’ve just been living with this??  Your whole life??”

“Well it’s not like the come every night,” you mumble, pulling out a chair and avoiding her gaze.

“Okay,” Undyne sighs, pushing out her own chair.  “Sit the hell down, and tell me your favorite breakfast.”

“E-excuse me?” You can’t help a small stutter and Alphys just smiles at you.

“You have these fucking things attack you all the damn time, I’m making you your favorite goddamn breakfast.”

There’s a beat of silence before you burst out laughing, “I-I’m sorry, no one’s offered to do that for me in years.  Haha, oh geeze …”

Undyne snorts, “Yeah yeah, just say it quick before I change my mind you big mushy book nerd.”

“Hehehe, okay, okay.  You sure?”

She nods and you can see the determination in her single yellow eye.  There’s no getting out of a good meal now.

“I’d really enjoy some homemade pancakes if you could, my Grampy used to make them for me when I was little and we’d eat them with warm maple syrup.  Maybe some strawberries on the side would be nice?”

“W-warm maple syrup?”

“Yeah,” you turn to Alphys.  “We just put some of it in the microwave for a little bit, and pour it all over our pancakes.  Trust me, it tastes 100% better.”

Undyne gives you another one of her winning smiles before giving your shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “One batch of homemade pancakes, strawberries, and warm maple syrup coming up!!”

The breakfast was delicious, you’d found out that Undyne and Alphys had opted to take the morning off from work in case Undyne was still sick, or you needed attention.  Undyne had cooked them very well, there were a couple of overdone spots but you didn’t mind.  It was the thought that counted, and you were truly grateful.  After eating you excused yourself to the living room to make a few calls.  You’d managed to send a group text to Papyrus, Sans, and Allie last night before going to bed but you fell asleep before even getting to read their replies.  You were too tired to check them before bed and decided you needed to go through them now.

Everyone was happy to hear the talk went well, giving their own variations of “I knew you could do it!” and “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”  Sans had only said one congrats and opted not to join the conversation again, you figured he was probably tired from yesterday and everything. When you sent your message last night you mentioned that Alphys had insisted you sleep over, and Papyrus immediately wanted in on that deal.

> **PAPYRUS:** YOU SHOULD SLEEP OVER WITH US TOMORROW!!!  IT WILL BE LOTS OF FUN AND I WILL KEEP THE NASTY NIGHTMARES AWAY!!
> 
> **You:** Aww, thank you Pap!  I’d love to, I would, but I do need to get back to Toriel.  I think she wanted me over for dinner last night?  And that didn’t happen, heh.
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** OKAY!!  BUT YOU SHOULD COME OVER SOMETIME SOON!!  WE HAVEN’T HAD ANYONE SLEEP OVER FOR A WHILE, AND I’LL BET IT WOULD MAKE SANS VERY HAPPY!
> 
> **You:** Heh, well if you insist Papyrus.  I’ll give Toriel a text now and see what the plan is.
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** CERTAINLY!!  HAVE FUN!!

You smiled to yourself, Papyrus was truly a bundle of joy.  You hoped he’d never lose that spark and began texting Toriel.

> **You:** Hi Toriel!  Sorry I didn’t text you last night, I forgot.  I really am sorry about that.  I don’t know if Sans or Pap or Allie told you but I decided to go out to dinner with Alphys and Undyne and tell them what happened.  I expected them to be furious, Undyne in particular, but they were so incredibly nice and understanding!  I ended up having a sleepover with them, that was nice.  I heard you wanted me over for dinner?  I wouldn’t want to be a burden or anything, but I wanted to check in and make sure.  Hope you’re having a good day :)

You expected it to be a while before Toriel texted you back but to your surprise she responded right away!

> **Toriel:** Hello ______!  It is so good to hear from you.  Yes, Sans and Papyrus did tell me about the dinner and you staying over.  I admit that Frisk was a little jealous, hehehe!  They had wanted you to stay over after dinner.  You could never be a bother, I’d love for you to stay for dinner, and perhaps for a night too?  Frisk was very worried about you when we did not hear from you for so long.
> 
> **You:** Oh gosh, I’m sorry!  I didn’t mean to worry them, or you.  I’m okay now though I think, you told them that right?
> 
> **You:** Oh, and I think maybe having a sleepover might be nice, especially if Frisk is insisting!  It’s funny, when I told Papyrus he was really excited and wanted me to come over too.  Perhaps tonight could work?
> 
> **Toriel:** It certainly could!  And don’t apologize dearest, we’re all thankful and glad you’re all right now.  Yes, I did tell them that you were … sick, sort of.  And had needed time and friends to get better.  This is a lot of why they would like you to sleep over, they want to be your friend and help you get better.  They truly are the sweetest thing.

A soft “aww” escaped your lips and you briefly placed a hand over your heart before continuing.  Frisk was really sweet.  You’re not too sure how you liked Toriel explaining to Frisk that you were ‘sick’ but you supposed it was better than ‘nightmare induced terror to the point of isolation’.

> **Toriel:** Hehe, and I am afraid Papyrus will have to wait.  I have called ‘dibs’ after all!
> 
> **You:** Haha, you sure did!  I guess I’ll see you later tonight them.  What time should I come over?
> 
> **Toriel:** Could you do 3 dearest?  Also, I forget if I’ve told you before but Frisk and I live at 36 Silver Road.
> 
> **You:** I can!  But you’ll have to let me go in the morning so I can spend that night sleeping over at Sans and Papyrus’. :p
> 
> **You:** And thanks for the address!
> 
> **Toriel:** Well, if I must. Hehe, you’re welcome.  I will see you later, ______.  Do take care!
> 
> **You:** You too!

Grinning you switched back over to Papyrus.

> **You:** Hey Pap guess what?
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** WHAT??
> 
> **You:** So Toriel and Frisk wanted me to sleep over tonight, sorry!  Frisk was really worried apparently and wants me to sleep over to feel better.
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** OH, THEY WERE!!  AND WHILE I AM SAD THAT YOU GET TO GO OVER TO THEIR HOUSE BEFORE OURS I AM MORE THAN HAPPY FOR BOTH YOU AND FRISK!!  FRISK IS A VERY GOOD FRIEND.
> 
> **You:** I did make a deal with Toriel though.
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** OH?
> 
> **You:** Yep!  I made her promise to let me go in the morning so I could spend that night with you and Sans!  If that’s okay with you guys.
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL!!!!  I WOULD NEVER WANT TO DRAG YOU AWAY FROM TORIEL BUT I AM SO EXCITED TO HAVE YOU OVER!!! I’LL HAVE TO SHOW YOU ALL MY ACTION FIGURES!!  AND WE CAN WATCH METTATON MOVIES AND STAY UP REALLY LATE AND HAVE POPCORN AND LOTS AND LOTS OF FUN!!!
> 
> **You:** Haha, I’m glad you’re both okay with it then!  I’ll be seeing you tomorrow night, okay?
> 
> **You:** Oh, pfft.  I just realized, I have no idea where you live.  Could you give me your address so I can drive over?
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** OF COURSE!!  SANS DOESN’T LIKE ME GIVING OUT OUR ADDRESS BUT WE KNOW YOU.  WE LIVE AT 234 OLD TOWN LANE.
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** OH, OUR DOOR IS ON THE RIGHT!!  CATTY AND BRATTY LIVE ON THE LEFT.  THEY’RE VERY NICE MONSTERS, GOOD FRIENDS OF ALPHYS.  YOU SHOULD MEET THEM SOMETIME.
> 
> **You:** Awesome, thanks for letting me know!  It’d be cool to meet them sometime, maybe you could introduce me?  Or Alphys could?  I wouldn’t want to impose …
> 
> **PAPYRUS:** NO IMPOSING!!  IT WOULD BE MY GREAT PLEASURE!! :D

You paused for a bit.  Old Town Lane?  That was on the other side of town!  And it wasn’t the nicest place either. You furrowed your brow, you could easily guess why Sans didn’t want anyone knowing.  You’d heard it had become sort of a monster district and things were a little rickety there but it was otherwise okay.

You were beginning to think you were missing something when you realized it was past 9 and you hadn’t called your boss.  Quickly dialing her number you’d found that she wasn’t surprised that you weren’t in.  She’d expected that you’d take off till Wednesday with no trouble.  When you told her about what happened she huffed into the phone.

“I still want you back in on Wednesday, Kane can’t do the sorting near as well as you can.  Why don’t you come in half shifts starting Wednesday till Friday, have your weekend off like normal, and then come back in full time the following Monday?”

“That sounds perfect!  Thank you so much Tiana!  I really do appreciate this.”

“Hey, no problem!  I can’t have you overworked or anything.  Oh, and the police haven’t found anything, sorry hun.”

You frowned, “Nothing?”

“Not a thing.  It was really windy that night, the camera feed kept getting blocked out by the leaves on the trees.  They think they may have saw someone in the dark but it’s too hard to discern who it might be, height, race, age, gender, monster, human, whatever.”

“Huh …” you pursed your lips, a little bitter that she’d included monster in the lineup but you were sure that no monster would ever do such a nasty thing.  “Well, thanks for the report back anyways.  I’ll see you Wednesday then.”

“See you Wednesday.  Take care.

“You too.”

With a sigh you plopped yourself onto a chair in the living room, right next to the couch where Alphys and Undyne were preoccupied with an anime movie.  Looking it over you guessed it was Spirited Away, that was one of the library’s most rented Ghibli movies.  You really did enjoy that movie to so you decided to stick around and finish it with them.

________________

When it was about one Undyne and Alphys had to go to back to work.  You jokingly explained to them that they’d started a sleepover chain, first with Toriel and Frisk and then with Papyrus and Sans.  They had laughed and said that you should ask Allie too just for the hell of it, and you realize she would probably never turn down an opportunity like this.  You said goodbye to Alphys and Undyne and sent a quick text to Allie, who only feigned disappointment that everyone else got to have you over before her.  She also reminded to you to set up an appointment with your therapist, which you did.

Your therapist was happy to finally hear back from you, but was sad it wasn’t under happier circumstances.  You briefly mentioned the idea of getting a pet to her and she thought it would be a marvelous idea.  Figuring it’d be easier to start simple but with some required effort, you thought a guinea pig would be a good idea.  They didn’t require as much watching as a cat might have and you wouldn’t have to worry about them escaping out the door.  Your street was no place for a cat and you didn’t want to face any consequences of it getting hurt outside, or worse.

You’d had a couple of guinea pigs before during your childhood, your mother had often helped you take care of them and you thought it would help to have a familiar pet to take care of.  Your parents did have a cat, once the guinea pigs were gone of course, but you never really looked after it like they did.  But you did love Smokey, with his gray plume tail and bright yellow eyes.  He was certainly the best cat in the world.  For now, you’d have to settle for the best guinea pig in the world.  And before all that, you’d have to prepare a room for your guinea pig and everything!

You grabbed your things from your friend’s house and drove home, deciding that your small office room that you never used would be the best place for a new furry little friend.  There were many old books and papers, some you wish you didn’t have to be reminded of and either threw them away or put in a box for storage in the basement.  Snagging all the duct tape you could find in the house, you began taping down all the wires to make sure that none of them would make enticing little snacks for the guinea pig.  Small animals like that were known to chew on those and you knew you didn’t want to deal with any horrible aftermath.  You’d have to buy a cage too, a little half wooden log for them to play in and a small fence to block off the door so you could let them explore the room to get exercise while you cleaned their cage or just watched them.  You’d have to buy them hay and food to play in … and probably an air freshener and carpet cleaner, or lay down a bunch of towels when you let them out.  Maybe both.  Yeah, probably both.  The prospect of a new pet so soon was a little daunting, but you figured you had time to figure it out and plan it right.

You had ended up moving your computer and other work files to an empty table in your living room, right across the hallway to the dining room.  It was small enough you don’t know why you felt you had to designate a whole room to it earlier, but you were glad to get one section of the house cleaned out.  You’d been meaning to do that for a while now.

Three was fast approaching and you figured you’d better get packed up for another night at a friend’s house.  You honestly can’t remember having so many sleepovers at once, or having so many in your whole life really!  You were a pretty shy kid and only got invited over once or twice, but never seemed to fit in so kids just stopped inviting you.  Thinking nothing more on the past you grabbed a spare set of clothes, pajamas, your phone and charger, a notebook and a few other little necessities.

It was a fairly short drive to Toriel’s, and once you knocked on the door Frisk practically bowled you over.  They began signing frantically.

‘I was so worried!  You didn’t say anything to me or mom or anyone!!  Are you gonna be okay now?’ You had started picking out books in the library on sign language soon after first meeting your little friend.  You could understand what they were saying fairly well without having to rely on others for translation.

“I’m gonna try to be okay,” you replied, smiling down at them and smoothing down their hair.  “It helps to know I have great friends like you and your mom, Sans and Papyrus and Allie too.”

Frisk beamed up at you, ‘And Alphys and Undyne?’

“Definitely Alphys and Undyne.  I was … really scared they might hate me but it turned out I was just being really dumb.”

‘You’re not dumb!  You just thought different, and that’s okay.’ Frisk pouted and stomped their foot for emphasis.  You couldn’t help but smile and accept their words.

“I guess so … thanks Frisk.”

‘Come inside!  I wanna show you Steven Universe!’  They grabbed your hand and yanked you through the doorway, barely stopping by to say hello to Toriel.  You tried to tell them you needed to set your stuff down but they wouldn’t have it, insisting that you come right away.

“We can talk later my friend,” Toriel hummed, waving at the two of you.  “Dinner will be ready in a few hours.  Please, enjoy your time with Frisk.  They really do want to show you this cartoon.”

‘I think you’ll like Pearl, she reminds me of you.’ Frisk looked beamed at you.

“Yeah?  Is Pearl nice?” You grinned at the child.

‘Yeah!  She’s really nice!  And she worries a lot, like you do.  But that’s okay, cause she has friends who help her not worry so much.’

“Huh … since when did you get so good at reading people kiddo?”

They just shrugged and skittered back to their room.  You shared a last amused glance with Toriel and then followed Frisk into their room to be introduced, and presumably enthralled, with the world of Steven Universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I'm so sorry that took me so long to get this chapter out xp I'd been searching for a job, and I found one!! It's kept me really busy, so I couldn't really post it. I've got a small window of time before I have to leave this morning.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your patience, your lovely comments, kudos, and bookmarks!! I'll try to get the next chapter out a lot sooner.


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